COVID-19 In Jakarta Rises Again, DPRD Asks Provincial Government To Intensify Booster Vaccinations Which Are Not Reaching 50 Percent Yet

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JAKARTA - Member of Commission E of the DKI Jakarta DPRD for People's Welfare, Idris Ahmad, asked the DKI Provincial Government to move quickly in dealing with the condition of COVID-19 cases in the Capital City which is currently increasing again.

Idris asked the DKI Provincial Government not to turn a blind eye to the possibility of a spike in COVID-19 cases in the future because activities are currently running as normal.

"We've faced several periods of spikes in cases, I hope it will move faster. Don't let it happen because now it seems as if everything is normal, so there is no preparation from the provincial government," Idris said in his statement, Wednesday, June 15.

Idris asked the DKI Provincial Government to increase the third dose or booster vaccination centers in anticipation of a spike in cases. Given, currently, the achievement of booster vaccination is still below 50 percent.

"Currently, there are 3.9 million recipients of booster vaccinations in Jakarta. In fact, 8.8 million and 7.9 million recipients of the first and second doses of vaccination have Jakarta ID cards. I encourage the provincial government to reactivate vaccination centers in all areas to protect the citizens of Jakarta," he said.

For information, COVID-19 cases in Jakarta have increased again over the past few weeks. In the last four weeks, the number of weekly cases in Jakarta was 616 cases, increasing to 782 cases, then 1,165 cases, and last week 1,940 cases.

Today, the daily cases of COVID-19 increased by 517 cases. Meanwhile, the percentage of positive cases or the positivity rate from the results of the PCR examination also increased from 1.3% to 4.6% in the past week.

"Current provisional data shows an increasing trend of positive cases occurring in all age groups, including children, both less than 6 years old (not vaccinated) or 6-18 years old," said the Head of Disease Prevention and Control at the DKI Provincial Health Office Jakarta, Dwi Oktavia.

Dwi explained several reasons for the increase in COVID-19 cases in DKI Jakarta over the past few weeks. Among them is the loosening of the implementation of health protocols and the high mobility of the people.

Not only that, there was a decrease in immunity (antibodies) in people who had received 2 COVID-19 vaccinations (complete doses) but had not or delayed receiving the third vaccination (booster), as well as other factors.