By: Abner Wanggai) *
National corona vaccination has begun in Indonesia, including in the Provinces of Papua and West Papua. Indigenous peoples in Bumi Cendrawasih support this program, so that the pandemic will end soon. Papuan civilians are also advised to be vaccinated against corona, so that everyone is healthy and herd immunity is formed.
When the corona vaccine was discovered, many people hoped that the pandemic could be over quickly. They are tired and tired of having to work at home and want to work outside the home. This includes Papuans, who have been affected by the pandemic. They want this choking condition to end quickly, so that the economy on Earth of Cendrawasih can improve.
In Papua, the Sinovac vaccine has landed since the beginning of January 2021. However, the implementation of vaccination only started in the middle of the month, due to waiting for EUA permission from BPOM and the halal MUI fatwa. When the first batch of vaccination programs had started, Papuan indigenous leaders fully supported them. Because he wants his citizens to be healthy and free of corona.
Zakarias Horota, Chairperson of the Papua Customary Council Region III Domberai, West Papua, supports vaccination in Cendrawasih Earth. He also appealed to all elements of society to support the administration of the vaccine. According to him, vaccines are a healthy choice for living in the midst of a pandemic. Therefore, all parties are obliged to support vaccination in West Papua.
Zakarias also reminded everyone not to easily believe in hoaxes. It is impossible for the government to harm the community through vaccines, as the hoax said. He believes that the government will always prosper and nourish the people, and the way is through the national corona vaccination.
There is indeed some fake news about the Sinovac vaccine, which is said to contain African monkey cells, which is wrong. There is also a hoax that this vaccine can change human DNA, even though it is complicated and cannot be done by just injecting. The most ridiculous hoax is that he said when the vaccine was injected, the needle could enter the human body, even though it was wrong.
It is very sad when the corona vaccine hoax has also entered Papua, which is far from the capital. Here, education is needed, not only from medical personnel, but also from community leaders such as Zakarias. Because he has an honorable position and his actions will be imitated by society. So that all residents want to be vaccinated.
Education to straighten out the corona hoax is very necessary, because the effect of this fake news is very dangerous. When 1 person believes fake news, it will spread everywhere. As a result, many civilians do not want to be vaccinated, only because of hoaxes that generally circulate on social media.
Even though everyone should want to be injected so that the national corona vaccination program is successful. According to doctor Wiku Adisasmito, Spokesperson for the Covid Handling Task Force, vaccination is needed to form herd immunity (group immunity). So that when everyone has been injected, no one gets corona, because their immunity is very good.
Vaccination for people in Papua is very important because the natural conditions are different from those in Jakarta or Surabaya. In rural areas, there are areas that are still mountainous, and generally transportation is via manual land routes, aka walking. If they are exhausted, their immunity decreases. When you neglect to remove the mask, you will easily contract the corona.
If we want the pandemic to end, the only way is vaccination. So when the Sinovac vaccine lands in Papua, the people are just waiting for the schedule to be injected. They want to be injected because they realize that vaccination is the way to freedom, because there is no more transmission of corona and the pandemic can end as soon as possible.
) * The author is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta
