The Ministry of Health is planning to add millions of doses to the country’s vaccine stocks by the end of October 2022, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force has informed.
“The government plans to increase vaccine stocks to supply vaccine stocks in several regions,” the coordinator of the task force’s expert team Wiku Adisasmito said at a press conference on the development of COVID-19 handling in Indonesia, which was followed online on Thursday.
The task force also urged the community to make the most of the currently available vaccine stocks by taking both the primary and booster vaccinations.
Adisasmito, who is also serving as the government’s spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, urged regional governments to optimize vaccine distribution up to the district and city levels.
“Regional governments must also ensure that the vaccine needs of the residents are fulfilled,” he said.
According to him, vaccination is a collective responsibility that is needed to form community immunity against COVID-19.
Based on the results of the latest serosurvey, the antibody levels against COVID-19 in Indonesia reached 98.5 percent in August, he noted.
“This, of course, must continue to be maintained or even continue to be improved to realize the endemic (transition),” he said.
Even though the World Health Organization (WHO) is the only agency that can officially declare endemicity, it is important for the community to strengthen the health protocols and vaccinations in order to support the change in status, he added.
“In the end, people’s behaviors will also determine the change in status,” he remarked.
As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 234,666,020 citizens.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Health, as of October 27, 2022, as many as 205,118,088 Indonesians have received the first vaccine dose, 171,841,379 have been administered the second dose, 64,908,837 have taken the third dose or first booster, and 663,349 have received the fourth dose or second booster.
Source: Antara News