Vaccination Service Hours For Age 18 In Jakarta Is Up To Each Health Facility

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The vaccination service hours for the general public over the age of 18 in Jakarta are determined by each health facility (faskes) according to the existing situation and conditions.

Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Division of the DKI Jakarta Health Office, Dwi Oktaviani, said this was to make the use of vaccines per bottle more efficient.

"One bottle of vaccine can be used by 10 people. So, if only one comes and there is no more for six hours, then one bottle is wasted. Therefore, to prevent this, the hours of service are set by each health facility," said Dwi, as quoted from Antara, Saturday 12 June.

Dwi explained that if the health facility assessed that the community in its place liked the morning service, perhaps the service was provided during the morning service hours. However, if people prefer to come in the afternoon, then the service will open in the afternoon.

"We submit that to each health facility, the vaccine center, because they have to prepare personnel, efficiently for the use of vaccines," he said.

Dwi said that the vaccines for 18 years and over can be followed by DKI residents or non-Jakarta residents by only bringing their ID cards and/or bringing domicile information to vaccination facilities such as Public Health Center, hospitals, or vaccination centers spread across Jakarta, including GOR.

"So, this vaccination is prioritized for residents who are active in DKI, whether they have a DKI ID card or not, as long as they stay around DKI at night to create 'herd immunity'," she said.

Dwi said that DKI was indeed one of the areas with the Ministry of Health's top priority for vaccination considering the high spread of COVID-19.

"We must not discriminate against other regions. But because DKI is the epicenter (center) of cases, of course, it becomes a priority consideration for vaccination. Therefore, we hope that this opportunity is used as much as possible by those who live and work in Jakarta and don't miss vaccinations," she said.

The Ministry of Health approved the third stage of vaccination in DKI Jakarta Province with a target population of 18 years and over. The approval was issued due to an increase in daily cases and deaths of COVID-19 patients in the capital in the past week.

The Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control, Ministry of Health, issued a letter Number SR.02.04/II/1496/2021 dated June 7, 2021, which is an answer to the letter from the DKI Jakarta Health Office Number: 6209/-1772 dated June 5, 2021, concerning Approval for Staged Vaccination Implementation 3 in DKI Jakarta Province.

"The DKI Jakarta Province can expand the COVID-19 vaccination target to all residents aged 18 years and over, while still prioritizing vaccination for health workers and supporting personnel working in health care facilities," wrote the Acting Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control, Ministry of Health, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu in the letter.