By: Prita Mulyasari
Vaccination is one of the government’s efforts in ending the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to paid vaccines, the government also provides free vaccinations to a number of people. The public also appreciates the availability of free, safe and halal vaccines in order to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19.
The government has committed to provide free, safe and quality vaccines for the community. This effort received appreciation from the Deputy Chair of the MPR, Syarief Hasan for the government’s efforts to provide free vaccinations.
Syarief said that the government decided to provide the Covid-19 vaccine for free, after the government received a lot of input from the public. To provide free vaccines for the community, the government has also reallocated the budget of Ministries and Institutions in 2021.
He also considered that the steps taken by the government could be a form of government concern to solve health problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. But not only appreciated, he also reminded the government regarding the safety and effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine.
On a different occasion, Spokesperson for the Covid-19 Task Force, Wiku Adosasmito, said that the main goal was to provide free vaccinations to all Indonesians in order to achieve herd immunity or group immunity against a virus transmission.
In realizing herd immunity, the government is targeting to give injections of the COVID-19 vaccine to 67-70 percent of the population or around 182 million people, so that 30 percent of the population does not need to be vaccinated. Wiku emphasized that the main goal of free vaccines is to achieve a minimum number of vaccinated populations, in order to achieve herd immunity.
This action is also a form of the government’s commitment to ensure the accessibility of the community to their right to health where in the COVID-19 pandemic contest is vaccination. Wiku said the government wanted the free vaccination program to accelerate the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
On a different occasion, WHO Indonesia Immunization Officer Olivi Silalahi said that Indonesia was one of the most successful countries in the world in carrying out the Covid-19 vaccination program. According to Olivi, Indonesia is the second most populous country that has received the Covid-19 vaccination.
On the same occasion, Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the University of Indonesia, Prof. Pratiwi Pudjilestari Sudarmono, said that the obstacles faced in the field were due to the delivery of information. According to Pratiwi, such groups of people often receive the side effects of vaccines that are considered scary.
For that we can provide an explanation, how vaccines work, how vaccines are effective in inhibiting infection and also preventing transmission which ultimately reduces the number of patients. Apart from communication, the success of the national vaccination movement program also depends on the availability and distribution in order to reach more people, especially to meet the target of 1 million vaccinations per day.
SMRC Director Deni Irvani said that this data must be taken seriously. This is because big refusal and doubts in the community have the potential to disrupt the government’s target of forming group immunity, aka herd immunity.
Vaccines are products of biological substances in the form of antigens that are made with the aim of stimulating the formation of specific immunity against bacteria or viruses that cause certain diseases, so that when exposed, people who receive the vaccine can avoid transmission or avoid serious illness due to the disease. The vaccine will work when it is inserted into the body either by injection, oral or intranasal.
The Covid-19 vaccine itself is a vaccine that is given by injection into the muscle mass of the upper arm to stimulate the immune system or the immune system against the virus. The Covid-19 vaccine is important because the vaccine offers protection in the form of immunity without the need to be infected with the corona virus which can cause various symptoms.
However, Spokesperson for Covid-19 Vaccination Siti Nadia Tarmizi, asked the community to remain patient because vaccinations will be given to the community according to priority targets. He also reminded that in the vaccination process there is also a standard for giving vaccines to prevent the occurrence of post-immunization follow-up events (AEFI).
In addition to having obtained an emergency use authorization (EUA) issued by the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM), the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) stated that the Covid-19 vaccine was halal for use.
Of course, free vaccines are government efforts that need to be appreciated, because through free vaccines, people can get immunity to live a truly normal life.
(The author is a contributor to the Pertiwi Institute)
