Therefore, we are going to the Baduy people's villages to make them easily get vaccinated in July (2021)
Lebak, Banten (ANTARA) - Paramedics from the Cisimeut Public Health Center, which serves the remote areas of Lebak district, Banten, said they are striving to convince the indigenous Baduy communities to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

A special approach is needed because none of the Baduy people showed up at a mass COVID-19 vaccination drive held at the Leuwidamar sub-district office on Tuesday (June 29, 2021), officials from the health center revealed.

Village authorities, who are responsible for the indigenous Baduy communities in Lebak, Banten province, had invited them to participate in the vaccination event, but none of them came, they said.

"Therefore, we are going to the Baduy people's villages to make them easily get vaccinated in July (2021),” head of the Cisimeut Public Health Center, Maytri Nurmaningsih, informed in Lebak on Wednesday.

Health workers from Cisimeut will first spread awareness about the government's vaccination program among Baduy customary leaders and community members, she said.

"Along with vaccinators, paramedics, and midwives, we are directly visiting their residential areas," she added.


Nurmaningsih said she is optimistic that the indigenous Baduy people will eventually join the vaccination drive in July this year following one Baduy customary leader, Jaro Saija, opting to get vaccinated.Saija, who is also the Kanekes village head, has said he supports the COVID-19 vaccination program, but he wants the authorities to intensify awareness campaigns among the Baduy people.

The campaigns are expected to make them understand about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccinations for collective efforts to curb the spread of novel coronavirus diseases, he added.

However, the authorities cannot force those refusing vaccinations to get the jabs, he said, adding that there are 11,800 Baduy people residing in 68 villages in the district.

The COVID-19 pandemic initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and thereafter spread across the world, including to nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Indonesian government announced the nation's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.

Since then, the central and regional governments have striven incessantly to flatten the nation's coronavirus curve by applying healthcare protocols and social restrictions.

As part of efforts to win the fight against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has been conducting a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections since January 13, 2021. (INE)


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Translator: M.Suryana, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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