The Ministry Of Health Begins To Arrange The Use Of COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates For Travel To Watch Concerts

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (Photo: DOK Kemenkes)

JAKARTA - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin admitted that currently, the Ministry of Health is starting to prepare a new health protocol mechanism using a COVID-19 vaccination certificate.

Budi said that later the certificates held to people who had received the vaccine could be used for various activities, from traveling to watching concerts.

This, he said, was guided by the regulations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

"CDC has issued fairly comprehensive guidelines, transportation, concert events, and so on based on this vaccination certificate", Budi said in a virtual press conference on Youtube Economy RI, Friday, March 19.

Even though he has started preparing, Budi said that the realization of the use of vaccination certificates as a health protocol can only be used in the national vaccination program has reached a large number of targets.

"Once there are enough of them, we are now starting to prepare new health protocols for each of these activities, the point is to go there later", said Budi.

"So, this vaccination certificate will indeed be used as an instrument in the implementation of new health protocols for each activity", he continued.

Is it important for these rules to be made?

An epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University, Dicky Budiman said, the use of a COVID-19 vaccine certificate as a requirement for travelers can indeed be made. But, he assessed, this is not necessary at this time considering that the provision of vaccines in the community is still not very massive.

"Only less than two percent of Indonesia's population has been vaccinated", said Dicky when contacted by VOI.

If indeed this rule is being enforced at this time, he is worried, this will actually lead to discrimination in the community. "Unless there is more than 30-40 percent (vaccination, ed), that is the basis", he said.

"But if it is still two percent less, we will become an unfair country, and the principle of equality is not achieved", he added.