Gov’t to Ramp Up COVID-19 Vaccination Following Adequate Supply of Vaccine

INDUSTRY.co.id - The Government has announced it will continue to speed up COVID-19 vaccination following adequate vaccine supply as of May.

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin Monday (17/05/2021) said that after reducing vaccination rate at the end of April due to lack of supplies, the Government will now continue to rump up the vaccination.

Budi also appealed to all apparatus to improve vaccination for the elderly as this group has a high level of vulnerability and exposure to COVID-19. Budi cited Special Region of Yogyakarta province as an example of a region that has seen an increase in case fatality rate as there are still many older people who have not been vaccinated.

In the meantime, he added, Jakarta and Bali have recorded the biggest number of elderly who are vaccinated. The Minister went on to say that Ministry of Health has prepared measures to anticipate the potential spike of COVID-19 cases after Eid holiday, one of which by providing treatment rooms at hospitals.

“The total number of available beds for COVID-19 patient isolation reached 70 thousand, in which 20 thousand beds are occupied and 50 thousand rooms are available,” he said, adding that there are also 7,500 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds with 2,500 of them occupied.

Budi also expressed hope that there will be no spike of COVID-19 cases so that the backup rooms, both regular rooms and ICU rooms, can still be available, adding that Ministry of Health will ensure that not only treatment rooms are available, but will also continue to ensure availability of health workers and medicines.