Indonesia has rolled out a mass free Covid-19 vaccination program in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus and get its economy running again.
But the country, compared to others, is taking a markedly different approach by vaccinating young working people before the elderly in the first phase, after frontline workers.
However, President Joko Widodo, 59, was the first person in the country to receive the vaccine shot Today. The Vice-President on the other hand will not get the jab as early as possible since he is considered too old.
Professor Amin Soebandrio, who has advised the government on its “youth first” strategy, argues that it makes sense to prioritize immunizing working people – those “who go out of the house and all over the place and then at night come back home to their families”.
“We are targeting those that are likely to spread the virus,” he told BBC Indonesia.
He argues this approach will give the country the best chance of achieving herd immunity, something that occurs when a large portion of a community becomes immune through vaccinations or the mass spread of disease.
It was thought that 60-70% of the global population must be immune to stop the coronavirus from spreading easily. However, those figures will rise considerably if the new, more transmissible, variants spread widely.
“That’s the long-term objective – or we at least reduce significantly the spread of the virus so that the pandemic is under control and we can get the economy going again,” said Prof Soebandrio.
Indonesia, with a population of 270 million, has the highest cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia. According to government data, 80% of cases are amongst the working population.
While schools and government offices have been closed for almost a year, the government has resisted putting in place strict lockdowns, fearing the impact on the country’s economy. More than half of the population works in the informal sector, so for many working from home isn’t an option.
The country’s new health minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, defended the strategy and insists it is not just about the economy but about “protecting people and targeting first those who are likely to get it and spread it”.
“We are focusing on people who have to meet lots of people as part of their work; motorbike taxi, police, military. So, I don’t want people to think this is about just the economy. This is about protecting people,” he said.
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Source: bbc.com
