COVID-19 Vaccination in Indonesia is Not Fair for Priority Groups
COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia is not fair for priority groups. While many health workers and elderly citizens have not been vaccinated, a number of corruption detainees and the families of officials are instead enjoying a limited number of vaccines.
LaporCovid-19 Press Release
COVID-19 Vaccination in Indonesia is Not Fair for Priority Groups
JAKARTA (09/03/2021) COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia is not fair for priority groups. While many health workers and elderly citizens have not been vaccinated, a number of corruption detainees and the families of officials are instead enjoying a limited number of vaccines.
The LaporCovid-19 team collected various citizen reports regarding vaccinations that ignored priority groups. In Magelang, for example, we received a report from a private practice doctor who had not been vaccinated. The reporter will be injected if there is leftover vaccine, said Amanda Tan, LaporCovid-19 volunteer, Monday (8/3/2021).
His party also received reports of a number of health workers in Medan, North Sumatra, who had not received the COVID-19 vaccine at the beginning of March. In fact, at one of the mass vaccine locations, many were not health workers but were also vaccinated, he said, reading one of the residents' reports.
Until early March, of the target of around 1.4 million health workers, only 1.1 million people had received the second dose of the vaccine. Apart from health workers, another priority group that has not yet enjoyed full vaccination is the elderly. In fact, in several areas, vaccination for residents over 60 years of age has not yet been implemented.
At the same time, as reported by a number of media, dozens of KPK detainees have received the vaccine. They include former Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara who is suspected of receiving bribes for Covid-19 social assistance. A number of DPR members and their families have also begun to undergo vaccination. Amanda believes that the government should prioritize vaccination for vulnerable groups, such as health workers and the elderly. Herd immunity is difficult to achieve when there are still many vulnerable groups who have not been vaccinated. As a result, mortality rates and disease severity can
increased, he said.
Moreover, vaccines in Indonesia are still limited. At least, Indonesia needs 363 million vaccine doses for 181.5 million people. However, to date, only 7 million doses have been distributed and another 3 million doses are being distributed. Only around 1.15 million people have received vaccination up to the second dose. Amanda also encouraged the government to ensure equal access to vaccines for residents in various regions. The government must ensure that vaccine distribution is fair according to the level of exposure in each region, he said.
To ensure vaccine distribution, his party asked the government to build a vaccine data center (vaccine dashboard) that is open and easily accessible to the public. The data contains information about vaccine procurement (number of doses that have been spent) as well as patterns distribution of vaccines and their regions. This information must be submitted in person real time every day as a form of accountability and transparency.
Amanda also highlighted the unpreparedness of vaccination facilities which could trigger violations of health protocols by causing crowds. The LaporCovid-19 team collected citizen reports regarding this matter, including from South Jakarta and Surakarta, Central Java. This endangers potential vaccine recipients, especially the elderly.
The government needs to ensure the accuracy of disseminating registration information and collecting vaccination data to avoid confusion in the community, he said.
His party also received reports regarding vaccinations which were used as material for the electoral campaign to elect the chairman of the alumni association at one of the state universities in Bandung, West Java. According to him, this is unethical, full of conflicts of interest, and misuses vaccination.
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that vaccines are a public good (public goods) and should not be used for personal gain. This goes against principle, that access to vaccination should be based on priority groups, not based on alumni of certain universities, corruption prisoners and families of council members, he said.
Contact:
Amanda Tan, LaporCovid-19 volunteer
+62-858-6604-4058
LaporCOVID-19 is a platform for fellow citizens to share information about the number of incidents related to COVID-19 around us. Bottom-up approach through citizenship reporting or crowdsourcing so that every citizen can participate in conveying information about cases related to COVID-19.
Please download the following press release via the following link.
