"Our current problem is that the people's awareness of declining COVID-19 cases has caused their awareness to get booster shots to also decline," she said during the “COVID-19 Vaccination Book Dissection,” an online discussion held on Monday.
According to Yosephine, the decline in COVID-19 cases has led most people to believe that the situation is safe and booster vaccinations are no longer an urgent need.
This is despite the fact that the government has issued a policy that has made booster vaccination a requirement for several activities, especially domestic and overseas travel and entry to public facilities, she said.
Moreover, booster vaccination is just as important as the first and the second shots for improving immunity and preventing the development of severe symptoms upon COVID-19 infection, she added.
Expediting COVID-19 booster vaccinations will necessitate cooperation from all parties—not just the government, but also the broader public—since the decline in COVID-19 cases does not mean that the pandemic is over, Yosephine said.
However, the government is currently waiting to secure more COVID-19 vaccines since the supply that it has received is very low, she informed.
According to the data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of September 26, 2022, a total of 204,479,157 Indonesians have received the first dose and 171,080,578 the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, the number of recipients of the third dose or booster vaccine has reached 63,188,293. Further, the fourth dose or second booster has so far been provided to 591,794 health workers.
Related news: Booster vaccine program should be continued: Police Deputy Chief
Related news: COVID-19: First dose vaccination coverage crosses 204 mln
Translator: Suci Nurhaliza, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
