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Data problems cast shadow over Indonesia's ambitious vaccine drive
“I'm still confused because the [vaccine recipient] data keeps changing,” the health minister said last week.
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Hope in a vial: A health worker holds up a dose of the Sinovac vaccine at the Jurang Mangu community health center in South Tangerang, Banten, on Friday. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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s Indonesia begins inoculating medical workers against COVID-19, data problems have become apparent, making registration for the program difficult and clouding the country's ambitious plan to vaccinate some 181 million people.
The country is prioritizing the vaccination of about 1.3 million medical workers and staff members from Jan. 14 to April of this year. The Health Ministry sent a mass text message recently encouraging self-registration on certain digital platforms, including the Peduli Lindungi mobile application, website and call center, as well as online messaging application WhatsApp.
The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) previously issued a decree appealing to all medical workers to participate in the vaccination program and to end controversies regarding the vaccine, its efficacy and its emergency approval. But the chief stumbling block for medical workers has been the difficulty they have had enrolling in the program.
“We’re seeing many medical workers not yet registered on the information system provided. To be honest, there are many doctors who have had difficulties registering on the provided platforms,” IDI spokesperson Halik Malik told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Five days into the program on Tuesday, 483,000 health workers and supporting staff members had registered, and 41,300 of them had received the first shot of the dual-dose CoronaVac developed by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech, according to Health Ministry spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi.
President Joko “Jokowi'” Widodo has said that he wants 181.5 million people – out of nation’s total 269 million – to be vaccinated by the end of 2021. The current plan is to have 3 million people inoculated in January. This means that an average of more than 96,000 people must be vaccinated per day during the month.
The government is also hoping to inoculate 92.6 million people by June. So far, the country has received 3 million ready-to-use doses and 15 million bulk doses of the Sinovac vaccine.
