By: Ilham Maulana )*
The Regional Government (Pemda) is expected to continue to intensify vaccinations to prevent Covid-19. This step is needed to accelerate the formation of collective immunity in the midst of the shadow of the Covid-19 explosion in Indonesia.
In addition to discipline in the application of health protocols, vaccination also has an important role in breaking the chain of transmission of Covid-19. The Regional Government of course has an important role in the Covid-19 vaccination program, especially through budget policies. Cooperation between the central and local governments is one of the keys to success for the Covid-19 vaccination.
Secretary General (Secretary General) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) Muhammad Hudori said regional heads have an important role in the success of the Covid-19 vaccination program.
This is in accordance with the joint decision of the Minister of Home Affairs & Minister of Finance No. 119/2813/SJ & Number 117/KMK.07/2020 focuses on aspects of health, social assistance and economic rescue in their respective regions, especially MSMEs, both micro and ultra micro.
Hudori said, regional heads have an important role in the successful implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination, especially through the provision of a budget in the APBD to support the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination in their respective regions.
He explained that in the implementation of vaccination, provincial and district/city governments can also provide support in terms of providing health workers, vaccination sites, logistics and transportation, warehouses and vaccine storage equipment including buffer supplies/stock piling, security and socialization and mobilizing the community.
The provincial and district/city governments are also expected to be able to monitor and prevent follow-up events after the Covid-19 vaccination with the Ministry of Health and BPOM.
Hudori said that he wanted to underline the handling of Covid-19 to his colleagues from the regional secretary. This cannot be carried out by the provincial government but must also be carried out jointly at the central, provincial and district/city levels .
He also emphasized that the regional government could continue to optimize the handling of Covid-19 in accordance with the policies of the central government, to ensure the integration of programs and activities in handling Covid-19 to the leading government level, namely villages and sub-districts.
The Ministry of Home Affairs together with relevant ministries also continue to encourage local governments in terms of the realization of the 2021 APBD to deal with Covid-19 and increase economic stimulus in the regions, so that the pandemic can be handled properly while economic growth can also run as expected.
It should also be noted that the President has issued Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 99 of 2020 concerning vaccine procurement and implementation of breast milk vaccines . In article 13 of the Presidential Regulation, it is stated that the implementation of vaccination is carried out by the Ministry of Health (Kemkes). In implementation, the Ministry of Health establishes criteria and priorities for vaccine recipients and priority areas for vaccine recipients. Then the Ministry of Health determines the schedule and stages of administering vaccines and standards for vaccination services.
While Article 14 states that in the implementation of vaccinations, the Ministry of Health may cooperate with Ministries/institutions, provincial governments, district/city governments, state-owned enterprises or private enterprises, professional/social organizations and other parties deemed necessary.
The cooperation includes support for the provision of health workers, vaccination sites, logistics/transportation, warehouses and vaccine storage devices including buffer supplies/stock piling, security and socialization of community mobilization.
The contents of Article 14 of the Presidential Regulation demand the readiness of local governments in Indonesia, especially areas with high COVID-19 cases, including West Papua Province.
Meanwhile, DPD member from East Nusa Tenggara Province Abraham Liyanto appreciated the government’s hard work which had started distributing the Covid-19 vaccine. He also appreciated that the vaccine was given free of charge.
He hopes that the government can continue to communicate with vaccine-providing countries so that the availability of vaccines can meet the entire Indonesian population, which reaches 260 million.
On a different occasion, Vice President (Wapres) Ma’ruf Amin directly observed the mass vaccination process carried out by the Tangerang City government at the Central Government Building on Tuesday, June 15, 2021.
From the results of his review, Vice President Ma’ruf considered that the mass vaccination held by the Tangerang City Government was in line with the efforts of the central government which was aggressively pursuing the national target of 1 million vaccines every day.
Meanwhile, Tangerang Mayor Arief Wismansyah said that currently mass vaccination was held at several points for 3 days with a target of k 45 thousand targets.
The regional government must of course strengthen communication with the central government regarding the implementation of vaccines, where the mass vaccination program is a big goal in order to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.
)* The author is a contributor to the Press Circle and Cikini Students
