Pursuing 100 Percent Target Of Booster Vaccination For Industrial Workers By The End Of 2022, Ministry Of Industry Cooperates With Local Government

Implementation of industrial employee booster vaccination. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Industry)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry ensures that small and medium industry players (IKM) in the industrial sector will receive a booster vaccination facility that has received a complete dose. The aim is to strengthen the economic recovery. The Ministry of Industry will also work closely with local governments to facilitate vaccination.

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang said that this strategic effort was to reduce the ratio of active COVID-19 cases. So that the industry in the country is more productive and competitive, which will have an impact on the recovery of the national economy and the welfare of the people.

"This third dose of vaccination is one of the government's steps in efforts to strengthen economic recovery that has been carried out since 2021. More and more industrial players, especially SMEs, who get this booster vaccine, of course, activities will become more flexible, the industry will continue to move, and the economy will not only recover but grew higher," he said, in an official statement, quoted on Sunday, February 27.

Agus said the administration of the third dose of vaccine was in accordance with the Circular Letter of the Minister of Industry No. 2 of 2022 concerning the Third Dose of Vaccination/Vaccine Booster for Industrial Workers and Industrial Estates. The third dose of vaccination is an effort to restore community immunity, in the midst of adapting new habits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the circular, until June 2022 industrial companies and industrial estates are required to vaccinate 50 percent of their employees with booster vaccination, while the deadline for 100 percent booster vaccination is December 2022.

The Ministry of Industry has previously ensured the availability of 18 million doses of booster vaccine for industrial workers. To speed up vaccination, the time gap between giving the second and booster vaccines was cut to three months from the previous six months.

With good handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, continued Agus Gumiwang, industry players also need to consistently apply strict and disciplined health protocols.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry through the Directorate General of Small, Medium, and Multifarious Industries (IKMA) will cooperate with local governments to provide access to vaccinations for IKM actors, whose workforce reaches 66 percent of the total national industrial workforce.

The Director-General of IKMA at the Ministry of Industry, Reni Yanita, noted that more than 2.6 million industrial workers under the guidance of the Directorate General of IKMA were fully vaccinated in the period January 13 to February 3, 2022.

"As many as 1.3 million of this number are IKM workers in the chemical, clothing, handicrafts, and various industries," said Reni.

For your information, the inauguration of the industrial sector booster vaccination was carried out on Thursday, February 24, 2022, by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The Ministry of Industry targets 1 million industrial workers to have received the booster vaccine by next week.

In addition to facilitating the provision of booster vaccinations, Reni explained, her party is proactive in reminding SMEs about the importance of maintaining health protocols in the work environment and using the PeduliLindung application before entering the work area as an effort to monitor and control.

"In the future, hopefully, we will get used to the adaptation of new habits during this pandemic," he said.