"The most important thing is the implementation of health protocols and vaccinations," she stressed during a dialogue on 'Discipline of Masks and Vaccinations to Prevent Omicron' on Tuesday.
By following the health protocols, people can prevent the virus from entering their body so the virus will not be able to find a place to breed, she explained.
"It is important that we implement the health protocols while limiting mobility," Tarmizi said.
She further said that vaccinations can prevent the emergence of new positive cases.
"If everyone has been vaccinated, herd immunity will be formed. Vaccination is able to prevent possible variants from emerging. The new variant may emerge because the virus infects or transmits to the human body," she explained.
The entry of new variants of the COVID-19 virus such as Omicron in Indonesia will depend on people's behavior in suppressing virus transmission, she said.
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"People must obey the health protocols and immediately receive vaccination against COVID-19 to curb the spread of the virus," she added.
The Delta variant is currently the most widely circulating variant and the dominant COVID-19 virus in Indonesia, she said. At this time, there are 23 derivatives of the Delta variant, she informed.
She emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, although domestic cases are relatively under control.
"This pandemic is not over, although this week we saw a decrease between 200–300 cases reported per day. Deaths reported for one week were on average 8–10 people. The transmission rate is relatively low at this time but we must still be careful," she added.
Meanwhile, data from the Health Ministry showed that as of Tuesday evening, more than 143 million people or 68.90 percent of the targeted recipients have received the first dose of vaccination, and more than 100 million people or 48.03 percent have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
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Translator: Zubi M, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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