Gov’t to Accelerate COVID-19 Vaccination as Ramadan Draws Near

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan delivers a press statement after attending a limited meeting on public activity restrictions (PPKM) evaluation online, Monday (03/14). (Photo by: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Agung)

As Islamic fasting month Ramadan and festival of breaking the fast Eid al-Fitr draw near, the Government has announced that it is speeding up COVID-19 vaccination, especially for vulnerable groups, including senior citizens and people with comorbidities to support public activities during the period.

“The measure to accelerate [vaccination with] full doses and booster dose needs to be taken to support activities during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. We hope that Muslims’ worship activities in Ramadan and on Eid al-Fitr can be carried out optimally while still observing health protocols so there will not be spikes in cases,” Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said after attending a limited meeting on public activity restrictions (PPKM) evaluation through a video conference led by Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, Monday (03/14).

Luhut also urged the people to immediately get vaccinated while underscoring that they must not be picky about vaccines since the safety and efficacy of available vaccines have been tested.

“This is all our cooperation. Let me reiterate that we still have two weeks before the fasting month for us to speed up vaccination and this is for our safety,” he said.

According to Luhut, COVID-19 pandemic management in Indonesia continues to show significant improvements and the country has seen a downward trend of confirmed cases and hospitalization rate.

“The Government continues to guarantee that the pandemic management brings significant impacts with the downward trend of the national confirmed cases and hospitalization rate. Today, for example, the number of cases is already below 10,000, whereas the number of patients recovered is more than 39,000,” he said.

Luhut who also helms the PPKM in the islands of Java and Bali pointed out that the number of cases and hospitalization rate in the two islands have dropped significantly, adding that there was an increase in the number of regencies/cities entering level 2 of the PPKM based on this week’s assessment.

However, the Government also pays more attention to the mortality rate that decreases slowly, especially in Central Java province, due to many COVID-19 patients with comorbidities and patients who were not fully vaccinated.

“People with comorbidities or senior citizens must immediately be treated at hospitals if [confirmed] positive for COVID-19,” he said while urging regional heads to once again increase the capacity of testing and tracing, considering that the number of tests taken may decline as COVID-19 test results are no longer required for travel requirements.

“To continue to be able to identify cases and avoid spikes in cases, the Government has asked all regions to strengthen their testing and tracing capacities. It has an impact on our positivity rate, making it higher” he remarked. (DND/UN) (DH/MMB)