By: Florenza Parahita) *
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will receive a COVID-19 vaccination next week on January 13, 2021. The former Surakarta mayor will be vaccinated from Sinovac. The public also appreciated this action as a way to convince the public that the Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective for the community.
The government continues to accelerate the Covid-19 vaccination program nationally. President Jokowi is also the first person to be injected with the vaccine. The plan is, when President Jokowi is vaccinated against Covid-19, it will be broadcast live. After that, Covid-19 vaccination was carried out simultaneously in 34 provinces in Indonesia.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Heru Budi Hartono said it was intended for the public to see first hand, giving encouragement to continue to the regions as well. At least provinces, big cities will also continue.
The Presidential Palace will draft a protocol for implementing the Covid-19 vaccination when Jokowi is being injected. Including the question of who will accompany Jokowi when vaccinated.
The procedure for the process will be discussed this Friday. So anyone there may be other representatives and the process is not arbitrary.
This was conveyed directly by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin or BGS. Jokowi has also previously stated that he is ready to be the first to be vaccinated.
Budi also asked the regional head to prepare people who would get priority for the vaccination program, which would be divided into two stages.
He requested that the vaccination process, especially for health workers, be divided into 2 stages. The direction from the President, of course not without reason, because there may be a slight impact, such as soreness and a little fever, so that in one health center there are 4 nurses, don’t let them get all vaccines on the same day, this is to anticipate the effects of the vaccine , therefore the vaccine is given to 2 nurses first.
He also asked the Regional Head to ensure that health facilities registered in the BPJS P-care application display data collection and data input for ‘vaccine capable’ health facilities carried out by the District / City health office.
Previously, Jokowi had also revealed his reasons for being willing to get the first vaccine injection in Indonesia. He wanted to prove to the public that the vaccine was safe.
He also hopes that no community will refuse to be injected with the Corona vaccine, because they are worried about its safety and halalness. Because the government also involved MUI regarding the vaccine.
Jokowi admits that vaccination is not a tough job. However, this must be done so that people’s lives can return to normal as usual. He also asked the public to be willing to be vaccinated against the corona virus, he believed that this method must be done to overcome the corona virus pandemic.
For vaccination, Jokowi said that one person will be vaccinated twice. Thus, the number of vaccine doses needed must be more so that all people can get the vaccine.
Meanwhile, lecturer at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Achmad Munjid said, with President Jokowi being the first person to get vaccinated, this would be the same as Jokowi answering people’s questions and doubts about the efficacy of vaccines.
Based on a survey by the LaporCovid.org Citizen Coalition with the Faculty of Psychology, University of Indonesia, most respondents are still doubtful and even don’t want to receive a vaccine in the near future. In the survey, 32 percent of respondents said they were reluctant to accept the vaccines produced by Sinovac and Biofarma if they were infected with Covid-19, while 27 percent were still in doubt. Meanwhile, 31 percent of respondents agreed.
Meanwhile, a survey according to the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF said that 7.6 percent of Indonesians do not want to be vaccinated. As many as 64.81 percent answered agree, then 27.6 percent did not know.
On a different occasion, General Chairperson of the Indonesian Doctors Association (PB IDI) Daeng Faqih also stated that it was important for Jokowi to set an example because Indonesian people are mostly paternalistic, aka difficult to follow verbal advice. Paternalistic societies usually have to be set an example by those who are considered their leaders.
If Jokowi has stated that he will be the first person to receive a vaccine, then IDI is also willing to be one of the first to be injected.
As the recipient of the first vaccine in Indonesia, of course President Jokowi has provided assurance on the safety and halalness of vaccines, so that this can ward off doubts for people who refuse vaccine injections.
) * The author is a contributor to the Cikini Press Circle and Students