By: Shinta Salsabila
Independent vaccination is the injection of the covid-19 vaccine into the public, which is outside the national vaccination program. Because this type of vaccination is coordinated by each company and under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. When self-vaccination is intensified, it will accelerate herd immunity and we can be free from the pandemic as soon as possible.
National vaccination is an important program to end a pandemic period. The program starts in January 2021 and doctors estimate that it will be completed 18 months later. The reason is because the population in Indonesia is more than 200 million people, so they have to queue to get the vaccine injection.
Even though we all want the pandemic to end quickly, so that vaccination acceleration becomes the focus in 2021. So that the government finally allows independent vaccination. Where this vaccine can be obtained through company channels. Employees will get a vaccine shot and they don’t have to queue through the national vaccination route.
If more and more people have been injected with the vaccine, the herd immunity will quickly occur. Herd immunity is a condition in which a group has immunity to a virus, and the condition is that at least 70% of these people have been vaccinated. When there is herd immunity, the pandemic status can be revoked as soon as possible, and we can normalize the wheels of the economy.
To reach the state of herd immunity, it is estimated that it will take 12 months. 6 months earlier than the initial prediction, because there are 2 available vaccination routes. Namely national vaccination and independent vaccination. That way, the pandemic situation will end sooner and we can be relieved because we can live normally as usual. Therefore, independent vaccination is encouraged to match the government’s target.
Doctor Andi Khomeini expressed his support for independent vaccination. According to him, this program is an effort to stop the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. However, he advised that the vaccines used should not interfere with supplies intended for health workers. In that sense, health workers are prioritized because they have a high risk of contracting corona from patients.
Doctor Andi continued, independent vaccination should meet 3 requirements, namely the vaccine must be available, involve all parties, and must have a target. The intended target is to nourish the nation and state, so that access must be as broad as possible.
The availability of vaccines must indeed be checked because there should not be an independent vaccination route but the stock is insufficient, even empty. The vaccines given in the independent vaccination are made by Moderna and Sinopharm. Meanwhile, the national vaccination uses the Sinovac vaccine. Even though the type of vaccine is different, it is certain that the properties are the same to fight the ferocity of the corona.
The community does not have to worry about the safety of independent vaccination. Siti Nadia Tirmizi, a vaccination spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, stated that this vaccination must be regulated by the Ministry of Health, so that there is a guarantee of safety. The ministry will regulate how the technique, injection site, etc., and its distribution will be regulated by Bio Farma.
In addition, independent vaccination is as free as the national vaccination program, because the company will pay for it. The employees just need to register and they will be injected at the designated hospital, and so relieved because they have finished being vaccinated. After that, just wait 14 days to get the second injection, so that the body’s immunity is really strong.
Self-vaccination provides new hope for ending the pandemic quickly. Because if there is an independent vaccination route and a national vaccination route, the queue for injections will be even shorter. People will get vaccine injections faster and get immunity from corona. They are relieved to be free from the terror of the dangerous virus.
(The author is a contributor to the Tangerang Public Literacy Forum)