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Strategic communication essential to ensuring COVID-19 vaccination works
One of the key factors that promote vaccine hesitancy is the fact that many people do not believe COVID-19 exists.
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An elementary school pupil receives a Sinovac COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine in Surabaya, East Java, on Jan. 18, 2022. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
O
ver the past weeks, there have been mounting calls for a higher COVID-19 vaccination coverage target. The government’s target of 70 percent is perceived as “not sufficient” as only if the whole population is fully vaccinated can Indonesia prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Several epidemiologists warn that as new variants that are more contagious than the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 continue to emerge, a high coverage level is a must.
When the Wuhan strain began to spread in December 2019, a vaccine coverage level of 70 percent was considered enough to create herd immunity.
Omicron subvariant BA.2 has led to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in some countries, such as Hong Kong and South Korea. Indonesia must remain on alert, although its coronavirus cases are declining,
As of today, 71 percent of 208.27 million people targeted have received their second dose of a vaccine. But given the fact that Omicron’s BA.2 sub-variant is substantially more transmissible, the vaccination should reach more people to build a high level of immunity. This is not an easy task.
Like many other countries, Indonesia is facing vaccine hesitancy. This phenomenon has hampered childhood immunization programs and vaccination drives against other possible disease outbreaks, such as meningitis.
Luthfi Mardiansyah, chairman of the Center for Healthcare Policy and Reform Studies, said one of key factors that promote vaccine hesitancy is the fact that many people do not believe COVID-19 exists. Many viral posts claim the virus is not real.
“How do we find them ‘willing’ to get vaccinated if personally, they do not believe it [coronavirus] exists? Whatever the situation may be, it will be very difficult to vaccinate them against COVID,” he told The Jakarta Post in a Zoom interview on Feb. 23.
