We forecast that our immunity will drop at the beginning of next yearJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Health Ministry is preparing a strategy to accelerate the coverage of COVID-19 booster vaccination to 100 million participants starting in early 2023 following projected decline in population immunity at the start of next year.
"We forecast that our immunity will drop at the beginning of next year. We have to be prepared to avoid another wave coming to Indonesia," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin noted after attending the opening ceremony of the COMSTECH-OIC Fellowship Program and the inauguration of the OIC COE Network Laboratory at the Sujudi Building at the Health Ministry's office in Jakarta, Thursday.
Sadikin remarked that the ministry was readying strategies to accelerate COVID-19 booster vaccination coverage that had so far only reached 60 percent of the total target of 236.66 million people.
The strategy will target at least 100 million people to receive booster vaccines in a bid to increase the population's immunity to avoid the surfacing of a new wave, he remarked.
"Right now, the ministry is preparing a new program to achieve 100 million doses of the COVID-19 booster vaccine in an effort to anticipate the occurrence of another wave," Sadikin noted.
He said Indonesia had readied domestic production of the COVID-19 booster vaccine produced by PT Biotis (Inavac Vaccine) and PT Bio Farma (Indovac Vaccine). The two vaccines were targeted to obtain an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Indonesian Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) in September.
"When the domestic booster vaccine is ready, we will push our vaccination coverage at the end of 2022 to people, who have not received the third shot," he remarked.
The minister stated that the pandemic situation in Indonesia is currently relatively under control. This situation was proven during the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants that triggered new waves in several countries, but the situation in Indonesia remained stable.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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