By: Abdullah )*
In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic itself has not officially ended, although recently the case curve has decreased. For this reason, the public needs to always tighten Prokes and vaccinations so that Covid-19 cases can still be controlled.
For the last two years or so, the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to haunt the world, and Indonesia is no exception, which even claimed many lives during its peak phase. However, in the past few months it can be said that the pandemic conditions are not as bad as before and can be said to have been very sloping.
This of course cannot be separated from the government’s efforts to continue to intensify the enforcement of health protocols and also the provision of vaccinations to all Indonesian people through various policies. The handling and control of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia has even received appreciation from many parties as one of the best in the world because several countries are still struggling to fight the Corona virus with some still implementing regional lockdowns.
Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that at this time, the position of the Covid-19 pandemic which had indeed hit the world could be said to be in a phase that was almost reaching its end. Even so, he added that the pandemic has not officially ended yet so people should not be careless in protecting themselves.
In a press conference, Tedros likened that the struggle and journey of mankind in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic is like traveling in a tunnel, where there is already a point of light at the end of the tunnel. However, if the prudence and vigilance of the people themselves decrease, it is not impossible that they will stumble again if they are not careful.
Therefore, the Director General of WHO reiterated and urged that countries be able to continue to intensify health protocols very strictly, including also to continue to intensify Covid-19 vaccinations for all people without exception, as in the efforts made by the Indonesian government, which which has proven to be successful in flattening the Covid-19 curve.
In line with the appeal conveyed by Tedros, Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Central Kalimantan Region, Brigadier General Sinyo emphasized that until now, the government is still trying to control the COVID-19 case until the virus is completely gone. . Therefore, he also appealed to the entire community to continue to increase their self-awareness by always wearing a mask when doing activities outside the home, especially in public places.
The Kabinda of Central Kalimantan also emphasized that the entire community should remain vigilant until now the potential for transmission and spread of COVID-19 is still there. This is evidenced by the continued presence of new positive patient cases. So, even though the data on Covid-19 cases has been sloping in Indonesia, it doesn’t mean that people can be careless and carefree just like that. According to him, vaccination is an effort to prevent the transmission of the Covid-19 virus.
In particular, for people who may not be fully vaccinated, so that they can immediately carry out the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine and also continue it to the third or booster dose so that their protection and immunity in facing the pandemic becomes much stronger.
Regarding this, the Public Communications Team of the Covid-19 Handling Task Force (Satgas) said that booster vaccination and also the enforcement of the 3M health protocol are two things that complement each other in terms of optimal protection for the community in order to prevent the virus from infecting the body. Not only individually, but by optimizing the two strategies, community immunity will also work well.
The Covid-19 Task Force added that Booster and Prokes are two inseparable keys. Because, in fact, the potential for an increase in cases still exists, if the booster vaccine is not accompanied by disciplined health protocols. Regarding the vaccine itself, they stated that the body’s immunity from the vaccine will decrease over time. Decreased immunity must be immediately re-boosted through revaccination or more commonly called a booster.
The booster provisions have been regulated in the Circular of the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Health Number SR.02.06/II/1180/2022 and HK.02.01/I/2021. In that provision, it is stated that for the general public, including the elderly (elderly), a booster is at least 3 months after receiving the full dose of vaccine. As for survivors or people who have been infected with Covid-19 with mild to moderate symptoms, the vaccine is at least 1 month before