Gov’t to Administer Booster Shots from 12 January

Minister of Health Budi G Sadikin delivers a press statement after a limited meeting on PPKM Evaluation at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Monday (01/03). (Photo by: PR/Jay)

The Indonesian Government announced it will administer COVID-19 vaccine booster jabs to the general public starting 12 January 2022.

“The President has decided that the booster vaccination drive will begin on 12 January,” Minister of Health Budi G. Sadikin said in a press statement after a limited meeting on PPKM Evaluation at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Monday (01/03).

The Minister conveyed that the booster jabs will be administered to people aged 18 years and over in accordance with the recommendations of the WHO. The vaccine will be given to regencies/cities that have met the criteria of 70 percent vaccination for the first dose and 60 percent for the second dose.

“Until now, there are 244 regencies/cities that have met these criteria,” he said, adding that the jabs will be given over a period of six months after the second dose.

“We identified that there were around 21 million people in January that have entered this category,” the Minister said.

The Minister also stated that approximately 230 million doses of vaccine are needed for the booster jabs. Currently, the Government has secured around 113 million doses.

On the type of vaccine, the Minister underscored that the Government would make a decision after receiving a recommendation from the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI).

“We will determine the type of the booster later, some are homologous or the same type [as the initial vaccine], some are heterologous or different vaccine type, which hopefully will be decided on the 10th after the recommendation from ITAGI,” he said.

On the occasion, the Minister also reminded regional governments to continue to accelerate vaccination and to deplete the available stock of the first and second doses of vaccine, especially for provinces that have not yet achieved their vaccination targets such as West Kalimantan, West Sumatra, Aceh, West Sulawesi, Maluku, West Papua, and Papua. (FID/AIT/UN) (FI/LW)