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Indonesia has limited vaccine supplies. Is it prioritizing the right groups?
Medical experts have approved of the targeted groups for inoculation in the nationwide vaccination drive, but inclusion of some professions among priority recipients has raised a few eyebrows.
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Medical workers undergo mass vaccination at the Senayan sports complex in Central Jakarta, on Feb. 4. Questions have emerged about priority recipients of the vaccine at a time when supplies are still scarce. (JP/P.J.Leo)
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s the supply of COVID-19 vaccines remains limited in Indonesia, one look at the priority groups that the country has lined up for immunization could reveal the direction that the government is going in its pandemic response.
The government has rolled out the second phase of its vaccination campaign targeting approximately 38.5 million people from various groups, ranging from the elderly and security personnel to athletes and tourism workers.
The number of doses available by mid-March, amounting to some 18.5 million doses, is expected to be enough to cover inoculation for 9 million people, said Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, the Health Ministry’s acting director general for disease control and prevention, on Monday.
Just a day later, however, Bio Farma president director Honesti Basyir said that the state-owned pharmaceutical firm would only be distributing 7.5 million doses of the vaccine this month.
Of the second group of prospective vaccine recipients, some 21 million are people aged 60 and over while 17 million are what the government considers public service workers.
Among those included in the latter category are traditional market sellers, teachers and teaching staff, religious figures, lawmakers and security personnel, as well as government employees and officials.
Also covered are workers from the tourist sector, other public service workers such as firefighters and employees of state-owned businesses, as well as athletes and public transportation workers. The latter include pilots and motorists employed by one ride-hailing company.
