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Studies find vaccines working as Indonesians tiptoe around adverse events
Both the UK and India variants — deemed concerning because they were found to be more transmissible — have been locally transmitted in Indonesia.
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A vendor shows his COVID-19 vaccination card after being inoculated at Melong Market in Cimahi, West Java, on Feb. 24. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)
A
s new studies emerge highlighting that COVID-19 vaccines are working to prevent diseases, including against concerning variants, Indonesia is dealing with vaccine hesitancy following reports of adverse events.
The United Kingdom’s autonomous health agency, Public Health England (PHE), revealed in an unpublished non-peer review study on Saturday that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which Indonesia is rolling out now, are 60 percent effective against the India variant two weeks after the jab. The efficacy rate is slightly lower than the vaccine’s 66 percent effectiveness against the UK variant. The analysis is based on data collected in April and May from 1,054 people confirmed to have had the Indian variant and 11,621 people who had the UK variant. The study included all age groups.
Read also: As Indonesia detects India and South Africa variants, fears grow over possible case spikes
Both variants — deemed concerning because they were found to be more transmissible — have also been locally transmitted in Indonesia.
While PHE scientists expected to see even higher effectiveness against hospitalization and death, they also noted that with only one dose, the AstraZeneca vaccine was 33 percent effective against symptomatic disease from the India variant, compared to 50 percent against the UK variant.
Indonesia recently suspended the rollout of a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine to look into two recent deaths suspected to be linked to the vaccine while maintaining the use of other batches. The two incidents were among over a million doses of the vaccine already administered.
Health Ministry spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweighed the risks, urging the public to refrain from opting for certain vaccine brands.
