JAKARTA - The government has asked that the provision of the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine or booster for Indonesian Umrah pilgrims should not be politicized.
"We are talking with the Saudis, the Ministry of Religion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, so that the vaccine doesn't get out of the health corridor, let alone politics," said Health Minister Budi Gunawan Sadikin in Lebak Regency, Banten, as reported by Antara, Thursday, October 14. .
Budi considered that as long as the COVID-19 vaccine, any brand has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), any branding may be used as a booster.
However, the problem is that the COVID-19 vaccine in Indonesia is still lacking, and its coverage has not yet expanded to reach 208 million people, said Budi.
Budi admitted, the booster vaccine clinically provides higher body protection from COVID-19
"If we give a third vaccine in limited quantities, even though 100 other Indonesians have not been vaccinated, ethically, why is that, right?" Previously, Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health (Kemkes), Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the government was still discussing the Umrah procedure and COVID-19 vaccination related to requirements from Saudi Arabia for prospective pilgrims from Indonesia.
"There will be technical preparations, both related to Umrah procedures, vaccinations and quarantines," said Nadia in Jakarta, Tuesday.
The government of Saudi Arabia has reopened the implementation of Umrah for pilgrims from Indonesia. However, prospective pilgrims must have been vaccinated and have a vaccine certificate.
In addition, prospective pilgrims who receive the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are required to carry out a booster or third vaccination using one of the four types of vaccines currently approved by the Government of Saudi Arabia.
The four types of vaccines are Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna.
Nadia said that the procedure and fulfillment of the requirements for Umrah will still be discussed further.
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