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COVID-19 vaccination rates now part of PPKM level assessment
Vaccination rates are now part of a set of indicators the government uses to assess levels of COVID-19 curbs across the country.
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A man receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination program for foreigners in Jakarta on Aug. 24. (Reuters/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana)
T
he government has decided to use vaccination rates as one of the indicators to assess levels of COVID-19 curbs across the country, in a bid to speed up the inoculation program while allowing people to go about their daily routines with the easing of public activity restrictions (PPKM).
The decision was made on Monday, when the government extended the multitiered PPKM restrictions in Java and Bali until Sept. 20. Curbs outside Java will also remain in place until next week.
Cities and regencies under PPKM level 3 — the second most stringent set of curbs in the four-tiered system — must now vaccinate 50 percent of their general population and 40 percent of the elderly population with at least one dose of the vaccine to have their curbs lowered to level 2. This includes Greater Jakarta.
At least 70 percent of the general population and 60 percent of the elderly in regions under the more lenient level 2 curbs, like Greater Semarang in Central Java, must receive at least one dose so the regions can lower their PPKM level to 1. These cities and regencies have two weeks to improve their vaccine coverage or they would be reclassified as PPKM level 3 areas. The deadline does not apply to regions already under level 3 curbs.
Indonesia hit the milestone of administering 100 million jabs on Aug. 31, about seven months after its vaccination program started. This is equivalent to about one-fourth of the total shots needed to fully vaccinate the target population, and yet, fully vaccinated people account for only a small fraction of the milestone.
By Wednesday afternoon, nationwide vaccine coverage for the first dose remains arguably low at 36 percent and the second shot at around 20 percent.
Read also: Govt dials back curbs as pandemic shows signs of easing
