Statement of President of the republic of Indonesia at Limited Cabinet Meeting on COVID-19 Response (Evaluation of Emergency PPKM), 16 July 2021, Jakarta

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Good morning,

May prosperity be upon us.

Distinguished Vice President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, let me talk about vaccine rollout. Do look at the numbers. The data shows that 137 million doses of vaccine in the form of ready-to use or bulk vaccine have arrived in our country.

In fact, approximately 54 million doses have been used in vaccine rollout, meaning that the number of the existing stock at Bio Farma or at Ministry of Health, or maybe in provinces, regencies, cities, hospitals, and community health centers are too high.

To that end, I order Minister of Health to disseminate (this data) to the lowest level of the organization unit to avoid holding vaccine stock. Use the vaccine immediately because we want to complete the vaccine rollout as soon as possible.

Two or three days ago, we could provide 2.3 million jabs a day. I believe we can achieve 5 million doses per day. We do not need to hold the vaccine stock. The stock should only be available at Bio Farma.

We must immediately use saccine stock in other places. One of the keys to solving the problem is the speed of vaccination in line with the statement delivered by Director General of the WHO.

Regarding vaccination, the door to door vaccination conducted by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) shall continue. Let us look at vaccination rate in Jakarta and Bali. Bali has 81 percent of vaccination rate; Jakarta has 72 percent of vaccination rate. I think in August the two regions will achieve herd immunity.

Now, we must pay attention to three provinces, West Java, Central Java and Banten. West Java vaccination rate is only 12 percent, Central Java 14 percent, and Banten 14 percent.

We hope that the island of Java will soon achieve herd immunity in late August or mid-September at the latest. If we carry out the vaccine rollout by using all the available resources, I think it can be completed by August. That is the first point, vaccination.

Second, oxygen. This morning I visited the factory of PT Aneka Gas Industri. I was briefed that there are still many factories that can boost production. We can also activate inactive factories. This measure requires financing. Do find a solution for this matter because we must prepare for case surge and ensure oxygen is available.

If we can empower our domestic industry, we will have enough supply. We must pay attention to our state-owned enterprises to support oxygen supply. Krakatau Steel, our fertilizer factories, and our petrochemical industry can help to provide oxygen supply.

Third, mobility index or human mobility index. We have carried out road closure. However, when I inspected the roads at night and this morning, including in Pulo Gadung, I saw it was still relatively crowded. Last night I went to a village and it was very crowded. We need to evaluate the road closure policy and see whether it is effective in reducing cases or not. Currently many families contracted (COVID-19) and we may find other strategies to solve the problem.

We need to conduct a more detailed study on the effectiveness of the road closure policy. In my opinion, since family clusters have emerged, the key is maintaining discipline in observing health protocols, especially in wearing a face mask. I have ordered the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) to redouble efforts on matters related to distributing face masks and campaigns on mask-wearing,

The next point is that we must be careful in lowering mobility index, including in implementing the road closure policy and in handling community members, traders, street vendors, and shop owners. I order the police and I order Minister of Home Affairs to urge regional governments not to be harsh and rude, [but to be] firm and polite.

During the dissemination of the policy, law enforcement personnel may also distribute staple food to the public. I think a number of incidents that occurred in some regions, including the beating of a shop owner by the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) personnel, must not happen again.

Fifth, distribution of social assistance. (The distribution) must not be late. The Family Hope Program, direct cash assistance, and social cash assistance – none of them must be late. The most important thing is rice assistance, staple food assistance. This week, it must be distributed. Do speed it up. I order head of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and Minister of Social Affairs not to hesitate. Because the most important thing is that we do not steal.

The procedure should be assisted by the Finance and Development Comptroller (BPKP), including the provision of free medicines. We provide free medicines, supplements, and vitamins. The people appreciate it very much. Last night I went to a village, almost everyone there was happy and asked for the medicine. This is very helpful because previously our plan for the first batch was providing 300,000 packages and for second batch was providing 300,000 packages.

I order Minister of Finance to prepare at least more than 2 million packages. It is not expensive if we provide 2 million packages with cost of Rp63,000 for the first package, and Rp200,000 for the second package. In terms of budget, it will not require a lot, but the people will get the benefit because they need the medicine. Today many people go to pharmacies, including Pramuka Market, and could not get the medicine they need.

Sixth, public communication that builds optimism. The people worry about the surge in COVID-19 cases, high mortality rate, and availability of staple food. Do not be insensitive to those matters. Do not frustrate the people because of our mistakes in communication and our mistakes in implementing policies.

Seventh, Eid al-Adha. Our policy must be well disseminated. Maybe Vice President can provide step in this matter and Minister of Religious Affairs can disseminate the policy to the public so that the Eid al-Adha can be observed solemnly and everyone can observe health protocols.

Finally, among questions from the people today, one of the most important ones that we need to answer: will the emergency PPKM be extended or not? If we want to extend it, how long will it be? This is really a very sensitive matter that must be decided with serious consideration to avoid any mistake.

That concludes my remarks.

I thank you. (RI/EP)