However, last year, it could reach 90 thousand people (per day).
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The current low booster vaccination coverage will need to be addressed before Indonesia can achieve COVID-19 endemic status, head of the Health Support Sub-Division of the COVID-19 Task Force, Alexander K. Ginting, has said.

"Vaccination still becomes a homework (to be done by the government)," he said at the virtual “Talkshow: Measuring the Relevance of Health Protocols,” on Thursday.

The vaccination program is targeting to inoculate more than 235 million people against COVID-19. The coverage of the first dose has reached 86.69 percent, or the equivalent of more than 203 million, while the second dose coverage has touched 72.9 percent, or more than 170 million people, he noted.


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However, the current problem is that the coverage of the booster vaccination is still low at 26.05 percent of the total target, or 61 million people, he informed.

"The progress of vaccination coverage is different from last year (in 2021). Nowadays, it only reaches 15 thousand people (per day). However, last year, it could reach 90 thousand people (per day)," he noted.

Hence, the official said that people's access to vaccination centers as well as the implementation of vaccination acceleration programs need to be re-evaluated.

"Last year, the task force, starting from the villages officials and village supervisory non-commissioned officers (Babinsa), was actively involved (in the vaccination program), and it made the vaccination coverage to become high," he noted.


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However, when the trend of COVID-19 cases began to move downward, public enthusiasm in vaccination also declined, he said. Although booster vaccination has become a requirement for travelers, vaccination coverage has not been as high as in 2021.

"Hence, it should become our joint campaign to vaccinate the targeted 140 million people," Ginting said.

The main priorities in the vaccination program are the elderly group and the general public, he added.

"The vaccination must be assessed as protection to keep people from getting infected (by the virus). It is expected that the district heads and mayors will provide access for the general community and the elderly groups throughout Indonesia, thus people can get vaccinated," he said.


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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Uyu Liman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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