By: Abdul Karim )*
The government continues to intensify the vaccination program for the community. Vaccination is believed to be effective in forming higher antibodies to fight Covid-19.
We’ve been through a pandemic for two years. In this difficult time, one must be patient in the face of trials and maintain health protocols. In addition, vaccination is also mandatory so that the body’s immunity increases so that it is not easy to contract Corona. Moreover, this virus continues to mutate and the omicron variant is proven to be more contagious than other variants, so vaccination is very important.
The national vaccination program has started and the government continues to push for a speedy completion. The reason is that the more people who are vaccinated, the sooner we will have herd immunity throughout Indonesia, so that the pandemic condition can be ended quickly.
In many areas, herd immunity has started to form. A survey from the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia stated, “Antibodies to Corona obtained by residents living in agglomeration areas are higher than other districts or cities.”
This finding was obtained from the seroprevalence survey in November to December 2021. Seroprevalence in question is a study carried out to count the number of individuals in a population that show positive results for certain diseases based on serological specimens or blood serum.
Iwan Ariawa, a member of the pandemic team of the UI Faculty of Public Health stated, “Seroprevalence or sero surveys were carried out based on agglomeration areas of 9 provinces, 47 regencies/cities, and agglomeration areas consisting of 25 provinces and 53 regencies/cities. The sample is from 92.8% of the population.”
Iwan added, “The agglomeration area has a higher proportion of the population with antibodies, which is 90.8%, compared to the non-agglomerated area, which is 83.2%. Meanwhile, in the agglomeration area, more people have been vaccinated than not.”
In a sense, if the people in the agglomeration area have higher antibodies, it means that herd immunity has started to form. The reason is because the majority of people have been vaccinated. So that in one adjacent area, the antibody will be higher. When compared to non-agglomerated areas.
This proves the efficacy of the Corona vaccine. After a year of promoting a national vaccination program, the community’s antibodies are higher, especially in agglomeration areas. Its close position forms communal immunity so that everyone is protected from Corona.
With the results of this survey, we feel relieved because there is hope that the pandemic will end sooner. So that we can move normally without fear of Corona. Of course, still by complying with health protocols.
Even though herd immunity is not yet 100% in all of Indonesia, because the requirement is to have at least 75% vaccination coverage, we are still optimistic. Currently the vaccination coverage is only around 50% but will continue to be boosted. This is done so that the government’s target is achieved, namely 100% vaccination after 18 months from the first injection at the beginning of the national vaccination program, meaning later in September 2022.
To achieve the target of vaccination coverage, many parties have succeeded in the success of the national vaccination program by holding mass vaccinations. So, vaccination is not only done in hospitals and health centers. But also in public places such as fields and university halls.
Vaccination of residents in agglomeration areas is proven to provide higher body antibodies to fight Corona. Therefore, immediately get vaccinated if you haven’t, because we must have strong immunity during the pandemic. The distance between vaccines is a maximum of 6 months and after that just waiting for an invitation for a booster injection.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute
