The Health Ministry has adopted four strategies to quickly achieve the daily vaccination target of 2.5 million doses in regions, acting director general of disease prevention and control at the ministry, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, has said.

The first strategy is involving the Indonesian Police, the National Defense Forces (TNI), the National Demography and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to accelerate vaccinations, he told Commission IX of the House of Representatives (DPR) during a hearing on Thursday, which was streamed on Youtube.

The second strategy is mobilizing resources at technical management units (UPT), such as vertical hospitals and medical polytechnics at the Health Ministry, to provide health facility-based or mobile vaccination services to the public, he informed.

The third strategy is installing vaccination centers in cooperation with other partners, such as DPR members, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), banks, institutes of higher learning, religious organizations, including the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) and the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI), and the private sector, he said.

“The last strategy is involving territory development officers of the Health Ministry to support and monitor DPR RI in conducting vaccinations in the field as well as to ensure that the vaccination reporting aligns with the data of each region,” he added.

Rondonuwu highlighted a number of obstacles to achieving the daily vaccination target of 2.5 million doses, including low vaccination coverage among the elderly.

“Many problems cause the lower vaccination of the elderly, including (lack of) family role to take the elderly to the vaccination booth and comorbid anxiety disorder. In fact, as we all know, the elderly are the most vulnerable group when they fall ill,” he said.

The vaccination acceleration strategies will also target several agglomeration areas, including Greater Malang, Greater Bandung, Greater Semarang, Greater Solo, Greater Surabaya, and Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi) so that the first-dose vaccination coverage of 70 percent can be achieved in October 2021, he informed.

The same strategies will also be applied to the three most populated provinces in Indonesia and therefore, hard work is needed to achieve the daily vaccination target of 2.5 million doses, Rondonuwu said.

“If the daily vaccination target is reached in West Java, East Java, and Central Java, then 60 percent of the national vaccination target will be achieved,” he added.

Source: Antara News