Suddenly The Meningitis Vaccine Is Difficult To Access In August 2022, Vice President: Don't Let People Want Obstacled Umrah

Vice President (Wapres) Ma'ruf Amin. (Antara)

JAKARTA - Vice President (Vice President) Ma'ruf Amin emphasized the importance of meeting the needs of meningitis vaccines for the community. Mainly for those prospective Umrah pilgrims.

"We have to prepare (vaccine) meningitis according to our needs," said the Vice President when asked by reporters after attending the 'Lilas Week and Anniversary Commemoration' of the 67th Anniversary of the Confederation of Indonesian Muslim Workers (K-Sarbumusi) in Sidoarjo, East Java (East Java) on Friday, September 30.

According to the Vice President, there needs to be a re-check regarding the rules for the meningitis vaccine. He also said that he would discuss the availability of this meningitis vaccine to related parties.

"It must be clear whether the obligation still exists. If it doesn't exist, it doesn't matter, but if it's still there, then we have to hold it. I think later we will discuss it," he said.

The Vice President also emphasized the importance of the community's ease of feeling when preparing all the needs for Umrah worship, including the availability of meningitis vaccines.

"Don't let people [want] Umrah be constrained by this because there is no meningitis. Later we will check again why," said the Vice President.

The Muslim Association of Hajj and Umrah Organizers of the Republic of Indonesia (AMPHURI) previously revealed that prospective Umrah pilgrims in several areas in Indonesia had difficulty getting a meningitis vaccine because their supply ran out.

Head of AMPHURI Umrah, Zaky Zakaria, said that suddenly in August 2022, meningitis vaccines were difficult to find and reduced from circulation.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Services of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, admitted that there was an increase in the number of Umrah pilgrims after the entrance to Saudi Arabia was opened because it was still in the import process.

Companies providing meningitis have not been able to bring in vaccines as scheduled because new factories are starting to operate again with a "lockdown" due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also accompanying the Vice President in the press statement were the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziah and the Governor of East Java Khofifah Indar Parawansa.