DPR Asks For Acceleration Of Vaccinations Following Dozens Of Million Vaccines That Will Expire

Illustration/Antara

JAKARTA - Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed, 18 million free vaccines will be due or expire at the end of February 2022. Budi Gunadi explained that the vaccine which will be due or expired in the near future is a donation from developed countries.

In response, Member of Commission IX DPR RI, Kurniasih Mufidayati, asked the Government to evaluate and consider the expiration date of the vaccine before receiving and distributing the grant vaccine. According to her, this is to prevent the number of expired vaccine doses from increasing and causing waste and waste.

"Even though the vaccine is free, the process is received, distribution and storage use the state budget," Mufida told reporters, Monday, February 28.

Therefore, the PKS legislator for the DKI Jakarta Dapil urges a strategy to accelerate vaccination. The reason is, until February 27, only 9 provinces have achieved a complete two-dose vaccine.

"Nationally, we are still lacking, for a complete two-injection vaccine, only 69 percent. There are even three provinces whose coverage of the first dose of vaccine is below 70 percent, Maluku, Papua, and West Papua," said Mufida.

"This means that there are still Indonesian citizens who have entered the vaccine program but have not received a single dose of vaccine," she said.

She said the acceleration of vaccination can be done in several ways. One of them is the type of vaccine that is nearing expiration, which can be used as a booster, which has only reached 4.7 percent.

"Yesterday there was an acceleration for the elderly with a booster vaccine, just waiting 3 months since the second vaccine does not have to be six months. This can be studied for public officials and other vulnerable groups, it may not be enough three months apart for a booster. But it must go through a scientific and health study," Mufida said.

Mufida also reminded that vaccinators and doctors who will maintain new vaccines must be experienced. This is in order to be able to face obstacles in the field in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to the public.

"This vaccine is not a new thing, we should be more experienced. Can we not cover a large area with the time available? This is a problem with the use of the state budget. If we can't afford it, we dare to refuse," she said.

According to her, even African countries dare to refuse when they want to be given free vaccines whose expiration dates are not long for realistic reasons.

"We should be able to measure the ability to use vaccines so that they don't go to waste," she said.

The PKS Legislator for the DKI Jakarta Dapil also asked the government to take a cultural approach to areas whose coverage is still small with intensive communication to local community leaders.

She said that this method was successful when she went to areas and approached local leaders so that they were willing to be vaccinated in those areas.

"It takes a persuasive and intensive approach, in the end, it requires patience. As in Papua, there are still very few achievements that can be done with a cultural approach," Mufida said.