104 Year Old Man In Bogor Gets COVID-19 Vaccination, Deputy Health Minister Dante: Hopefully It Will Be An Inspiration For The Elderly

Deputy Minister of Health, Dante Saksono Harbuwono (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said there was a 104-year-old elderly in Bogor, West Java, who received the COVID-19 vaccine. For this reason, he asked the elderly who had not been vaccinated to take an example from him.

"Two days ago, a hospital in Bogor received the presence of the oldest COVID-19 vaccination participant in Indonesia named Mr. Wirjawan Harjamulia, who is 104 years old", said Dante in a press conference broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Presidential Secretariat, Thursday, 25 March.

He said Wirjawan was very enthusiastic about implementing the COVID-19 vaccine and could do it because he was in good health.

After being vaccinated, Wirjawan was in good condition. So, Dante hopes that what Wirjawan is doing can be an inspiration for all the elderly to protect themselves from COVID-19 transmission.

"Hopefully, this can be an inspiration for all the elderly to be vaccinated. So, the mortality which is mostly suffered by the elderly will decrease", he said.

Furthermore, Dante also advised all people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine, including the elderly, to adhere to health protocols. Because receiving a vaccine does not mean that the body is immune to the virus immediately.

"This is very important because vaccination does not mean that people are completely immune. However, it takes time for (antibodies, red) to form in the body", he said.

As previously reported, the COVID-19 vaccination program is targeting 181.5 million recipients. Those targeted are people aged 18 years and over. Later, vaccine recipients will receive twice the injection dose.

Overall, this national vaccination will be carried out from April 2021 to March 2022 and consists of several stages.

In the first phase, the vaccine is intended for 1.5 million health workers. In the second stage, COVID-19 vaccination is for the elderly and public service workers.

The target is 21.5 million elderly and 16.9 million public workers. They are market traders, educators, religious leaders and counselors, representatives of the people, officials, government, civil servants, the National Army and the Police Force (TNI-Polri), tourism officers, public services, public transportation workers, athletes, and media workers. This program lasts until May.

Furthermore, vaccination will be carried out for 63.9 million vulnerable people or people living in areas with a high risk of infection. Then, other communities as many as 77.7 million people.