A booster or third vaccine dose can protect older adults from the threat of new COVID-19 variants like Delta, spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccinations for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, has said.

“The Delta variant already has its derivatives, which even reach 70 kinds. This will affect the efficacy of the vaccine. Therefore, we need additional vaccine doses to strengthen immunity or antibodies that we have previously produced from the first and second dose vaccinations,” she said at the Merdeka Barat Forum, which was monitored here on Thursday.

Tarmizi affirmed that the Ministry of Health will prioritize older adults in the third dose vaccination program, which is projected to commence in 2022.

Currently, the government is still striving to vaccinate older adults in the country, she said adding, COVID-19 vaccination for this group has reached just 43 percent of the targeted 21.5 million recipients so far.

“They need to be educated and motivated to get vaccinated,” the spokesperson said.

Speaking at the forum, internal medicine specialist Dirga Sakti Rambo said that the government’s move to give the third COVID-19 vaccine dose to older adults is supported by complete data.

“The data stated that our immunity will decrease over time. With a booster or additional dose, it is hoped that the antibodies will increase so that the protection (against COVID-19) remains optimal,” he noted.

According to him, 50 percent of Indonesia’s targeted population, in general, needs to be vaccinated at least with the first dose before the third dose vaccination can commence.

“Therefore, we first need to increase the national vaccination coverage. After that, we can give a booster vaccine, which is scientifically needed to bolster our protection,” Rambo remarked.

Source: Antara News