It Must Be Admitted, The Policy For Compulsory Boosters Entering Public Places Is The Trigger For The High Vaccination Rate In The Country

Screenshot-Coordinator of the Expert Team and Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19 Prof. Wiku Adisasmito/ANTARA

JAKARTA - Coordinator of the Expert Team and Government Spokesperson for Handling COVID-19, Wiku Adisasmito, said the number of recipients of booster doses of vaccination has increased significantly in line with the mandatory vaccine policy.

"Over the past four weeks, the number of booster recipients has increased significantly," he said at the Press Conference on the Development of COVID-19 Handling in Indonesia, which was accessed online from Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, July 28.

Wiku explained that this indicates that more and more people are equipping themselves with vaccinations to booster doses. "This is very good because it can increase collective protection in the community," he said.

He added that the increase in booster vaccination coverage also reflects the effectiveness of the mandatory booster vaccine policy to enter public facilities in order to realize community immunity against COVID-19.

One of them is stated in the SE Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Number 440/3917/SJ concerning Acceleration of Advanced Dose Vaccination or Booster for the community.

The government, he said, hoped that the increase in booster vaccination coverage in all regions could continue to be optimized and accelerated.

"Increased can be done by encouraging the enthusiasm of the community, as well as optimizing vaccination services in all regions," he said.

According to him, the public needs to be reminded that booster dose vaccination can optimize prevention, both preventing transmission, preventing complications, as well as preventing severe symptoms and death.

"Currently, the government is planning to give a fourth dose to health workers as a population at risk," he said.

Related to this, his party encourages local governments to continue to monitor the implementation of the mandatory booster vaccine policy.

"Local governments should continue to take steps to handle the increase in COVID-19 cases and ensure that the booster vaccination coverage in their respective regions continues to increase," he said.

It also encourages all local governments to increase the number of vaccination and education centers in their respective regions.

"We also ask the community to be cooperative with existing policies," he said.

Wiku also said that with the current increase in COVID-19 cases, there is a possibility of a spike in cases.

"It is not impossible that there will be a spike in cases, however, by learning from the previous spike in cases, it can be prevented by health protocols and COVID-19 vaccination," he said.