“With booster vaccination, the individual’s protection will be stronger. Even when infected, (the symptoms) will be milder,” Prof. Zubairi Djoerban said when contacted here on Tuesday.
Besides increasing vaccination coverage, health protocol implementation must also be strengthened, he highlighted.
“Those who have not received the booster must get the booster immediately. Those who want to carry out their activities: do not forget to wear masks because virus transmission can be prevented, and wearing masks is essential for protection,” he said.
According to Djoerban, people must become alert following the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
“Even though the recovery rate is high, there are patients who died. Thus, alertness is needed by increasing the vaccination coverage and strengthening health protocols,” he said.
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He also reminded vulnerable people such as older adults and people with comorbidities to get vaccinated, starting from the first dose to the booster dose.
"Given that new Omicron subvariants are currently emerging, namely BA.4 and BA.5, increasing vaccination coverage is needed, and vigilance also needs to be increased," he remarked.
He also pointed to the need to strengthen routine data and surveillance to support efforts to anticipate COVID-19 spread.
As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 208,265,720 citizens across the country.
According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of July 19, 2022, as many as 201,994,141 Indonesians have received the first vaccine dose, 169,613,168 have been administered the second dose, and 53,319,158 have taken the booster dose.
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Translator: Wuryanti Puspitasari, Raka Adj
Editor: Suharto
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