PRESS RELEASE

Bad Precedent for Giving the Third Dose of Vaccine

Jakarta, 05 October 2021 – The third dose of vaccination should not be given to the public except health workers as long as vaccine availability is still limited. Previously, the Bekasi City Government planned to administer a third dose of vaccination for teachers and educational staff without a recommendation from the Central Government (Indonesian Ministry of Health). This means that the Bekasi City Government has the potential to overstep the instructions of the Ministry of Health regarding the provisions for administering the third dose of vaccination to other than health workers.

This is not the first time this has happened to health workers giving the third dose of vaccination to other people. Confessions by a number of officials to President Joko Widodo which were recorded while reviewing vaccinations at SMPN 22 Samarinda City, East Kalimantan on August 24 2021 show that a number of officials have also received the third dose of vaccine. This certainly violates the principle of justice, where there are still many vulnerable groups who have not received the vaccine, while public officials have received the third dose of vaccine.

Meanwhile, the Bekasi City Government's plan has the potential to violate the principles of vaccine equality and justice and shows that the implementation of vaccinations is still carried out haphazardly, thus violating the principles vaccine equity. Meanwhile, vaccination achievement in Bekasi City as of October 4 2021 itself was only 66.39% for the first dose and 46.15% for the second dose. Vaccination achievement for the elderly in Bekasi City is also still low, namely 41.78% for the first dose and 31.35% for the second dose. The Bekasi City Government should prioritize giving the third dose of vaccine to elderly people who have not received the first or second dose of vaccine.

In the midst of low achievement, especially among the elderly, the Bekasi City Government is actually providing a third dose of vaccine to teachers and educational staff with the justification that the available vaccine quota does not expire. On the other hand, the area around Bekasi City also still shows relatively low first dose vaccination coverage. As in Bekasi Regency, only 59.29% for the first dose, Karawang Regency only 50.72%, Purwakarta only 50.72% and Subang Regency only 29.87%. Apart from that, there are cities and regencies in West Java that are already short of vaccine stocks, such as Tasikmalaya Regency whose vaccine stock will run out in 3 days, Ciamis Regency will run out in 4 days and Pangandaran Regency only has 6 days left of vaccine. Vaccines that are about to expire should be given to areas that are experiencing vaccine shortages and with low vaccine coverage.

The abundance of vaccines that are nearing their expiration date in the city of Bekasi also shows haphazard distribution by the Ministry of Health. The current management of distribution of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines has only prioritized regions that already have good cold chain infrastructure. Considering that both types of vaccines require special treatment. In fact, the government has been planning a vaccination program for a long time and will use these two types of vaccines. It is appropriate for the Ministry of Health to prepare supporting logistics to support vaccines with special handling for areas outside the city of Bekasi.

Regarding giving the third dose of vaccine itself, it is actually not recommended by WHO on the grounds that global vaccine availability is still limited. WHO stated that giving a third dose of vaccine when there are still many people who have difficulty getting doses 1 and 2 violates the principle vaccines equity so that it can cause inequality in vaccine access at the national level. The achievement of full dose vaccination (dose 1 and 2) nationally is still at 25.6%. This means that many areas still have difficulty getting access to doses 1 and 2 of the vaccine due to low vaccine stocks.

However, the Indonesian government provides exceptions for health workers considering the high risk of illness and death due to Covid-19. The Ministry of Health issued a circular on administering the third dose of vaccine as stated in the Circular Letter of the Director General of P2P of the Ministry of Health No. HK/02/01/I/1919/2021 and Circular Letter of the Director General of P2P Ministry of Health No. SR.02.06/II/2159/2021.

Providing a third dose of vaccine to educators and teachers by the Bekasi City Government could also set a bad precedent and if it is not immediately evaluated, it is likely that other City/Regency governments will follow suit. This bad practice which creates inequality in vaccine distribution clearly violates the legal provisions of the Health Law, the Health Quarantine Law and the Infectious Disease Outbreak Law which guarantee equal access for everyone to vaccinations in the context of dealing with health emergencies.

Seeing the potential for giving a third dose to non-health workers by the City/Regency government, the Community Coalition for Access to Health Justice urges the government to:

1. Stop the plan to administer the third dose of vaccination outside the group of health workers so that vaccine distribution is more optimal.
2. Ensure that the vaccine distribution process from the center to regional governments takes into account aspects of vaccine achievement and limited stock.
3. Ensure cold chain infrastructure is distributed to areas that still experience a shortage of vaccine stock so that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines can be distributed to areas that need them.
4. Take firm action against those who provide the third dose of vaccine to non-labor groups

Community Coalition for Access to Health Equity

Transparency International Indonesia, LaporCovid-19, LBH Jakarta, ICW, YLBHI, Lokataru, LBH Masyarakat, Indonesia for Global Justice

Contact Person:
1. Agus Sarwono : Transparency International Indonesia (08126992667)
2. Amanda Tan: Report Covid-19 (085866044058)

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1. See WHO, (2021) Interim statement on COVID-19 vaccine booster doses. Can be accessed viahttps://www.who.int/news/item/10-08-2021-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccine-booster-doses

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