Free Covid-19 Vaccination to End on December 31
- Times of India
Jakarta – The current Covid-19 situation in Indonesia shows an increasing trend in cases. This trend of increasing cases has occurred since the period October 8-14, 2023.
However, this trend of increasing cases isn't accompanied by an increase in the number of hospitalized patients and deaths.
The Covid-19 cases this time are dominated by the EG.5 subvariant. This subvariant is a derivative of the omicron variant and is included in the variant of interest (VOI) category or variants that have genetic mutations that are predicted to affect the clinical characteristics of the virus. Scroll for more information.
The characteristics of this subvariant are that it can cause an increase in cases and avoid immunity so that it's more easily transmitted but there is no change in severity.
Ilustrasi COVID-19/Virus Corona.
- pexels/Edward Jenner
Moreover, community mobilization during the Christmas 2023 and New Year 2024 holidays has the potential to cause a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Observing the increase in COVID-19 cases, the government, in this case the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), has submitted a Circular Letter from the Director General of P2P on October 9 2023 concerning Recommendations for COVID-19 Vaccination for Foreign Travelers Including Hajj and Umrah Congregants as well as a Circular Warning of the COVID-19 Surge for Health Workers on December 8, 2023.
In letter number IM.02.04/C/4864/2023 which was published on December 15 2023 and signed by the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, Dr.Dr. only provide until December 31, 2023.
"To anticipate the spread of COVID-19 in society, especially at Christmas, we hereby convey several things related to prevention efforts through vaccination to the wider community," as quoted from the letter.Â
"For non-elderly people who do not have comorbidities and are not immunocompromised, vaccination will be provided by the government until December 31 2023. Then they can be obtained independently," the letter continued.Â
Apart from that, it was also explained to people who have never received a Covid-19 vaccination to immediately get vaccinated at the nearest health facility.
Then for the public, especially the elderly and adults who have comorbidities and are immunocompromised who have received COVID-19 vaccination at least 6-12 months ago, can be given 1 dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
Regarding vaccination status, it can be recorded in PCare Vaccination (during the transition period) and can then be recorded in the Sehat Indonesiaku ASIK application and via the SIMPUS Hospital SIM or other recording systems integrated in SATUSEHAT.
Certification can be downloaded on the SATU SEHAT Mobile application. If you experience problems downloading, you can send an email to helpdesk.kemkes.go.id.
