By: Aditya Akbar) *
The handling of Covid-19 continues to reap encouraging results. One of these indications is the absence of additional cases in some areas and the increase in patient cure rates.
Good news came from the Covid-19 Handling Task Force, in which 4 provinces in Indonesia recorded zero additional positive confirmed cases on September 5, 2020. These provinces include Bangka Belitung, Jambi, Central Kalimantan and North Maluku.
In addition, the task force also reported that there were 15 provinces that did not experience any additional deaths today, aka zero.
Previously, President Joko Widodo predicted that the peak cases of the corona virus (covid-19) in Indonesia would occur in August to September. This estimate refers to the cumulative number of positive cases of Covid-19 which in the past month experienced a surge.
President Jokowi also said that the prediction of the peak of Covid-19 could change if it failed to be controlled. For that, he also encouraged the ministers to work harder.
He also dismissed the view that what was conveyed to the ministers in a cabinet meeting some time ago was an expression of anger. According to him, this warning was a motivation so that the ministers in their ranks could work harder.
The former mayor of Surakarta also estimates that a vaccine for the corona virus will be produced in January-April 2021. The vaccine is the result of research from Bio Farma and a biotech company from China, Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
He said that before the vaccine was produced, it had first gone through the clinical trial stage. Currently, according to him, clinical trials have reached the third stage.
Later, the provision of vaccines will be prioritized for health workers, vulnerable groups and residents in the red zone of Covid-19.
On different occasions, Commission IX of the DPR RI urged the Committee for Handling Covid-19 and national economic recovery (PEN) to make a grand design for the development of the Covid-19 vaccine, including development infrastructure needs, budget needs and vaccination plans.
Deputy Chairman of Commission IX of the Indonesian Parliament Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena said that his party encouraged the Covid-19 and PEN Management Committee to carry out 3 priority programs in a holistic and integrated manner. Namely Healthy Indonesia, Working Indonesia and Growing Indonesia, including a balanced budget allocation for handling in the health sector and the economic sector.
Furthermore, Commission IX also urges the Covid-19 and PEN Handling Committee to continue to increase the collaboration of all parties who have actively contributed including the TNI / Polri, BIN, universities, community organizations, community leaders and the private sector.
In order to improve health resilience during a pandemic, Commission IX DPR RI supports the Indonesian Ministry of Health to continue to improve the quality of health services in hospitals, health centers and laboratories in all regions through optimizing the use of the stimulus budget for handling covid-19 in the health sector.
On different occasions, Deputy Chairperson of Covid-19 and PEN Handling Erick Thohir said the government had prepared a plan for a covid-19 vaccine program in 2021.
He explained that the government will organize a free vaccine using BPJS Health data, this effort is expected to be carried out en masse in early 2021.
However, the government subsidized vaccine is not available for all people, considering the current state financial condition continues to decline. Not all of the people who are registered at BPJS Health get free vaccine services. His party proposes that if possible the community can pay for independent vaccines for those who can afford it.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Research and Technology / Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency said that the progress of the development of the Red and White Covid-19 vaccine had reached 40 percent. This good news immediately received a response from the Chairman of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo.
Bambang Soesatyo also asked the government to ensure that the vaccine will be safe for use by humans, after passing all stages of clinical trials, and also ensure that the halal vaccine is consumed by the public.
He said that his party encouraged the government to always update information about the progress of the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing process to the public and to find out the results of the stages of its development.
Bamsoet also encouraged the government and the Eijkman Biomellecular institution to make a commitment to be able to produce 290 million vaccines by 2021, as well as give them free of charge to the public.
Handling Covid-19 does require cross-sector cooperation, this is because this pandemic has affected many sectors, especially health and the economy. We can also play an active role against covid-19, by implementing health protocols before a vaccine is actually found.
) * The author is a strategic contributor to the Institute for Information Studies
