“It has been said that there are many (students) that have not been vaccinated. This is our task, the Ministry of Health, universities, and schools to inform the community regarding the importance of vaccination,” coordinator for immunization at the Ministry of Health Iqbal Zakaria said at a virtual event here on Wednesday.
A survey of 2,358 high school students in 34 provinces conducted by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta found that 52.58 percent of the students had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, he noted.
The survey conducted from September 1 to October 7, 2021, also found that 12.88 percent of the students believed that vaccination conflicted with their religious beliefs, he said.
To this end, Zakaria said that collaboration from all parties is essential in order to disseminate information to people and make them understand that vaccination is important as an effort to protect people and a part of COVID-19 handling in the country.
"We cannot say that we are in a safe situation. We always need to make efforts to handle the pandemic and implement the three important things, namely health protocols, healthy lifestyle, and then vaccination," he expounded.
To boost immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government started a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.
Vaccinations for the 12–17 age group were rolled out in mid-2021, while vaccinations for the 6–11 age group started on December 14, 2021.
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Translator: Prisca Triferna, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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