Vice President: COVID-19 Vaccination Must be Well-Prepared

Vice President Ma’ruf Amin inspects a simulation of COVID-19 vaccination at a community health center (Puskesmas) in North Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, West Java Province, Thursday (19/11). (Photo by: KIP Setwapres)

Simulation of the COVID-19 vaccination is part of the overall preparation ahead of the vaccination implementation, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has said.

“There are some things that must be prepared prior to the vaccination so it can run smoothly, including the list of vaccine receivers, stages of injection, and vaccine distribution mechanism,” the Vice President said after inspecting a simulation of COVID-19 vaccination at a community health center (Puskesmas) in North Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, West Java Province, Thursday (19/11). He

The Vice President went on to say that the Government will carry out simulations for COVID-19 vaccination in various regions and perform training for all officers involved. “Vaccine waste management has also been prepared,” he said.

Regarding the COVID-19 vaccines, the Vice President said that the vaccine is at the phases of clinical trials.

“The vaccine will be available after completing the phases of clinical trials. The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) will approve the vaccine after it is shown to be safe and effective. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is also expected to issue a halal certificate for the vaccine,” he said.

Regarding the MUI’s permission, the Vice President said that the vaccine is permitted to be used since we are in an emergency situation. The MUI, as an authorized institution will also issue a fatwa on this matter,” he added.

Furthermore, the Vice President reiterated that the halal certificate or fatwa from the MUI will be issued before the vaccine is distributed.

The injection of COVID-19 vaccine to more than 260 million Indonesian people will be conducted gradually facilitated by Ministry of Health.

“Minister of Health will explain technical aspects of the vaccination program, for example the total number of recipients, including those who will be vaccinated for free or those who will have to pay. It should be well-calculated and the vaccine should be well-prepared,” he said.

In the meantime, Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto said that the Ministry has prepared the COVID-19 vaccination plan.

“We have prepared everything, including simulation for the vaccination. The simulation must be executed so we can identify potential problems. Therefore, we carry out simulation in various regions, including at this Bekasi community health center supervised by the Vice President himself. Hopefully, with this simulation the vaccination will run smoothly,” Terawan said.

In simulation at the Cikarang community health center, the Vice President witnessed the procedure for the vaccination program, which will be also adopted by other health centers.

It is started with online registration, followed by basic health screening to ensure that the participants can be vaccinated, and vaccine administration. Afterwards, vaccine receivers are observed for 30 minutes. If they do not have bad reactions to the vaccine they are allowed to go home. Otherwise, they will receive further treatment.

For the record, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Wednesday (18/11), had inspected a similar simulation held at the Tanah Sareal Health Center, Bogor City.  (KIP SETWAPRES/UN) (RF/MMB)