The spread of disinformation regarding vaccinations has led to the slow progress in vaccinations among the elderly in the country, spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccinations at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, has said.
“Based on research, one of the causes of the slow progress in elderly vaccinations is that there are still many people who do not get the right information and receive a lot of disinformation,” Tarmizi said here on Friday.
According to a report from the Indonesian Ministry of Health, around 40 percent of the 21.5 million targeted elderly recipients have received the first vaccine dose. Meanwhile, 25 percent of the targeted recipients have received the second dose.
The spokesperson affirmed that the government is continuing its efforts to increase the vaccination rate among the elderly. One of the steps taken by the government to this end has been mobilizing health workers to visit the elderly and get them vaccinated, she informed.
In addition, the government is also continuing to educate people regarding COVID-19 vaccinations, especially on vaccinations for the elderly, Tarmizi said.
“We continue to educate and intensify dissemination. The active role of the family and the surrounding community is highly expected in helping encourage COVID-19 vaccinations among the elderly,” she added.
At the same time, the government has continued to remind the public to keep complying with the health protocols since the pandemic has not come to an end yet, she said.
“Our commitment, efforts, and cooperation are all key to dealing with this pandemic. Let us get vaccinated immediately and keep complying with the health protocols,” she remarked.
To boost immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.
According to the Health Ministry’s data, as of October 29, 2021, nearly 118,239,987 Indonesians have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 72,494,303 have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Source: Antara News