Unlike COVID-19, Minister Of Health Budi Said That Monkeypox Vaccination Was Only Given To People With Low Immunity

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin (left) with Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto (ANTARA/HO-Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat)

JAKARTA - Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that the monkeypox vaccination policy was not comprehensively applied to the entire community, such as the COVID-19 vaccination.

"This is because we keep the special segment given to those who may have a greater chance of being affected, especially those with low immunity," said the Minister of Health in a press statement after attending a Limited Cabinet Meeting related to the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) led by President Joko Widodo at the Palace. Jakarta Presidency, Antara, Tuesday, August 23.

Moreover, the Minister of Health reminded again that the transmission of monkeypox is much more difficult than COVID-19. The Minister of Health explained that the transmission of monkeypox was only through physical contact with fluids from the smallpox spots of someone who already had it and not through droplets like COVID-19.

"He can also only be contagious when (the sufferer) is physically visible with the smallpox spots and the fluid. Even if COVID-19 is still healthy, it can be contagious, so it's more dangerous," he said.

Therefore vaccination will only be given to people with confirmed low immunity.

"Because of that, it was very difficult to transmit, it's much more difficult than COVID-19, so it's not worth it for everyone to be given the monkeypox vaccine," said Budi.

The Minister of Health explained that the government had purchased a monkeypox vaccine which was prepared for sufferers and people with low immunity.

"Now we have bought the vaccine, now it is coming on the way. We have received the drugs, ordinary antivirals," he said.

On the other hand, the Minister of Health also reminded those who had previously received smallpox/smallpox vaccine in the past, they could still be protected from monkeypox.

He gave an example of himself and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, who was also present at the press statement after the meeting, as a group he said was still protected.

"So, if you are like me, like Pak Airlangga, you are actually still protected because we were vaccinated against smallpox in the past," he said.

Since July 23, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared monkeypox as a disease that can become a global health emergency.

The Ministry of Health on Saturday announced the findings of the first confirmed case of monkeypox in Indonesia in a 27-year-old male patient.

The patient previously experienced health complaints a few days after returning from a tourist trip to several countries in Western Europe on August 8, 2002.