Availability of COVID-19 vaccinations in Jakarta
The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has officially opened the availability of COVID-19 vaccinations to the general public aged 18 years and above, while still prioritising health workers, elderly people, and public servants.
The Head of Disease Handling and Control (P2P) of the DKI Jakarta Health Office, Dwi Oktavia, said that the vaccination was given to people who live in, often do activities in, work in and are natives of DKI Jakarta. This includes ID card holders issued in Jakarta and other regions.
“Just bring your ID card or bring your domicile, then, basically, you just have to come to the vaccination service,” said Dwi.
Dwi explained that the COVID-19 vaccination system was being carried out on a go show basis, in other words, recipients can simply arrive according to the service hours of the vaccination site such as health centres and hospitals.
“The term is “go show”, you can go anywhere (where vaccinations are carried out),” he said. However, Dwi asked the public not to attend centres outside the operational hours, which have been determined as 8am to 3pm.
COVID-19 vaccination sites that can be visited include Puskesmas or public health centres, clinics, and vaccination centres that have been opened by the central government and the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government.
“Anyway, now the important requirement is 18 years and above,” he added.
The provincial government opened vaccinations for the general public starting Wednesday 9th June, based on a letter issued by the Health Ministry No. SR.02.04/II/1496/2021. The letter consists of three considerations that the COVID-19 vaccination should be opened as widely as possible for the people of Jakarta.
First, the data on COVID-19 cases, which increased in the past week, reaching 7.62 percent. “This shows that the transmission in the DKI Jakarta province is still quite high,” wrote the Health Ministry.
The second consideration is that the COVID-19 vaccination has entered the third stage, targeting vulnerable communities with limited implementation. The third consideration is that DKI Jakarta is the capital city of the country; is the centre of government and national economic growth.
“Therefore, it is important to immediately suppress and control COVID-19 cases in Jakarta, one of which is by achieving herd immunity through the implementation of COVID-19 vaccinations with high and even coverage,” the Health Ministry noted.
Meanwhile, DKI Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria said the occupancy rate of isolation beds and intensive care units (ICU) for COVID-19 patients is also increasing. The general bed occupancy rate is above 50 percent of the available capacity, whereas the occupancy rate in ICU beds is around 52 percent.
The public is asked to continue to implement strict health protocols so that COVID-19 cases do not further spread and occupy more beds in hospitals.