If we want to observe potential COVID-19 mutation, then we need to observe countries and regions with low vaccination and high interaction or mobility
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Regions with low vaccination coverage and high population mobility can provide conducive conditions for mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, spokespersons for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, said.

"If we want to observe potential COVID-19 mutation, then we need to observe countries and regions with low vaccination and high interaction or mobility," he highlighted during the Apa Adanya Podcast, which was streamed on YouTube on Wednesday.

At the program entitled "Two Years of Pandemic in Indonesia, Develop a Champion Mental State," he said that virus mutation will continue to happen because it is a part of the virus’s natural instinct to live.

"Like humans, it will also try to survive," he remarked.

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According to Adisasmito, the main threat to coronavirus is vaccination intervention.

However, not all countries in the world have the same vaccination capability as Indonesia, he noted.

"This means that in places with low vaccination, such as in Africa for instance, mutations can occur in places with weak immunity," he said.

An endemic status in one nation does not mean that the pandemic is over worldwide, he said. All nations have to build collaboration to strengthen one another and to cover one another's weakness, he added.

"I think that Indonesia is a region with low potential of virus mutation," Adisasmito said.

"The risk for mutation will rise only in places with low vaccination and high people interaction or mobility," he added.

Nations that have not yet obtained equal access to vaccines, such as nations in Africa, half of Asia, and Latin America, are the ones that should be assisted, he said.

"By covering these regions through vaccination, it will save the entire world," he added.

Thus far, 144,506,997 Indonesians have received the complete dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, according to the task force.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
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