By: Moses Waker) *
The national corona vaccination is carried out in all regions of Indonesia, including Papua. The Sinovac vaccine will be injected gradually and people are waiting patiently for their turn. There are 1,006 vaccinators to make the vaccination movement successful in the Earth of Cendrawasih. They are trained to inject so that this program can be carried out quickly and precisely.
Since early January 2021, the Sinovac vaccine has arrived in Papua. However, vaccination will only start in the middle of the month, because it is waiting for the halal fatwa of the MUI and the BPOM permit. The first person to receive the corona vaccine in West Papua is the Deputy of the West Papua High Court, Witono, SH, M.Hum. During the 1st batch of vaccination, several doctors and community leaders were also injected.
After wave 1 of vaccination, there is another wave. In order to make the vaccination program successful, besides the supply of vaccines, a vaccinator is also needed, aka the person who injects it. They are reliable medical personnel and work professionally when vaccinating.
A total of 1,006 vaccinators are prepared to make the corona vaccination program successful in Papua. Doctor Aaron Rumainum, Head of Disease Prevention and Control of the Papua Health Office stated that the vaccinators were spread across 12 districts / cities of 29 districts / cities in Papua. They exist in various regions, from Nabire to Merauke.
Doctor Aaron also revealed that the number of vaccinators would increase, because in a number of districts there were no trained vaccinators. Therefore, face-to-face training will be held for medical personnel. Face-to-face training is conducted due to the limitations of the telecommunications network. The purpose of this training is so that medical personnel can inject vaccines correctly.
The Papuan local government prepares a vaccination program to make it 100% successful. Because they want all people on Earth of Cendrawasih to be corona free. Apart from training vaccinators, Sinovac vaccine storage devices are also regulated. Because this vaccine can only survive at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius. So it must also be regulated for the distribution of the cooling device, the flow of distribution, etc.
In addition, at the time of vaccination it is also arranged to fit the health protocol. Doctors and other health workers on duty, wear masks and gloves. Papuan civilians are also required to wear masks (not just face shields) and must wash their hands before entering the room. When queuing for a turn, the distance between the seats is also arranged so that they adhere to the physical distancing protocol.
Currently in Papua there are only 1,679 people who have received the corona vaccine. The majority of them are medical personnel and this is very natural. Because according to the instructions of the Covid-19 handling team, the first to get the Sinovac vaccine injection were doctors and health workers. The reason is because they are at higher risk when interacting with patients.
However, people do not need to be afraid of not getting the vaccine, because they will definitely get their turn to be injected. Each person will receive 2 injections of the Sinovac vaccine 14 days apart. Papuan civilians just have to wait for an SMS from the covid-19 task force team containing notification of the vaccine schedule, then come to the designated place, to be injected.
The injection of the corona vaccine into the Papua region shows that the Indonesian government puts the principle of justice first. All Indonesian citizens from Sabang to Merauke will get the covid-19 vaccine. Just be patient waiting for your turn, because estimates are that the national corona vaccination program will last up to a year.
The Papuan people really appreciate the corona vaccination on Earth of Cendrawasih. They want injections and want to be free from the Covid-19 virus attack as soon as possible. Because vaccination can create herd immunity so that Papua and all parts of Indonesia can be free from the grip of the pandemic.
) * The author is a Papuan student living in Gorontalo