IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – The Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Tuesday said that the government is prepared to start the national booster dose vaccinations against Covid-19 in early January 2022.
Initially, booster vaccines were supposed to be given when the first dose vaccinations have reached 70 percent of the national goal and 50 percent for second dose vaccinations. However, the two goals have not been reached ahead of the end of the year.
In a House Hearing on Tuesday, December 14, the Health Minister said booster vaccines “must be accelerated considering the current dynamics in the global stage such as the Omicron, which spreads faster than the Delta variant.”
Even though the Omicron variant has yet to be detected in Indonesia, the government must remain vigilant, he said. Senior citizens will be the main priority of the booster vaccination as they remain to be the most vulnerable population amidst the threat of a fast-spreading coronavirus variant.
“We cannot avoid Omicron 100 percent but at least we can delay it [from spreading]. So, for those who cannot accept the government imposing 10-days quarantine, it is deliberately imposed to protect 270 million of our population,” said Budi.
Meanwhile, the coordinator of the Covid-19 watchdog LaporCovid-19, Firdaus Ferdiansyah said the booster vaccination could potentially cause new problems related to supply. He argued that this could hamper distributing the vaccine evenly and marginalize the vulnerable groups from their rights to get the vaccines.
Read: Govt Asked to Review Vaccine Booster Rollout Next Year
DEWI NURITA
