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‘Why not?’: Jokowi may allow private sector to offer vaccinations
Kadin chairman Rosan Roeslani likened the proposal to expediting a visa.
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New line of defense: A health worker receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta on Thursday, a day after Indonesia began its mass vaccination program, which gives health workers top priority. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is considering a plan to allow private vaccinations in the country as his administration races to inoculate 181 million citizens while COVID-19 cases continue to rise – despite experts’ concerns about the impact of the policy on less-fortunate groups.
Jokowi said on Thursday that the private sector’s involvement in the vaccination effort might accelerate the process, which is currently expected to take up to 15 months.
“We haven’t decided yet,” Jokowi said during a virtual event. “We have to speed up; we need as many [resources] as possible. Especially if businesses bear the costs themselves, why not?”
Businesses might be able to offer different brands of vaccine than those used in the government program, he added.
Read also: Businesses, government at odds over priority recipients for coronavirus vaccines
The country’s business players have proposed that they participate in the inoculation program by distributing the vaccines to their employees and their families, as well as possibly the public at large.
