From the current stock, there is a vaccine that will expire on August 11, 2022, so it must be used immediately
Yogyakarta (ANTARA) - Yogyakarta city has started to administer the second booster dose to healthcare workers using the available Moderna COVID-19 vaccine supply.



"We have already begun (administering) the second booster vaccination," head of the Yogyakarta City Health Office, Emma Rahmi Aryani, said here on Monday.



The existing supply of Moderna vaccines would not be sufficient for vaccinating all 12 thousand medical workers in Yogyakarta city right away, she added.



Thus, the vaccines would be administered based on the available Moderna stock owned by the city, which is currently pegged at 4 thousand doses, with the additional distribution of vaccines for health workers proposed.



"From the current stock, there is a vaccine that will expire on August 11, 2022, so it must be used immediately," she informed.



Head of disease control prevention and data management of the Yogyakarta City Health Office, Lana Unwanah, said the second booster vaccination will be provided to medical workers at the health facility they are working at.



Public health centers will also cater to medical staff from other health facilities in their respective areas, such as health clinics, private doctors, and private midwives.


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"Medical staff need a second booster vaccination because they are the group most vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure," she said.



However, not all medical staff of a single healthcare facility will receive the second booster vaccination at the same time, Unwanah added.



"We also call for a strategy to set up vaccination schedules to anticipate adverse events following immunization that may appear so that medical services to the community (can continue as usual)," she added.

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Acting Mayor of Yogyakarta, Sumadi, said he expects the second booster vaccination service to also be offered to people other than medical staff.



"Indeed, currently, the priority is still for medical staff, and (the program) has started. However, we hope that the second booster vaccination target can be extended, for example, to (cover) educators or public servants," he added.


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Translator: Eka Arifa R, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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