The COVID-19 Handling Task Force has said that foreign nationals who work in Indonesia can take part in the mutual cooperation vaccine programme.
“The Indonesian government pays close attention to all elements of society, including foreigners residing in Indonesia. Currently, the national vaccination program covers Indonesian citizens and the government may consider foreigners who hold Indonesian working permits,” said Wiku Adisasmito, Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force.
“However, for those who are working in Indonesian companies, they may join the vaccination program under the gotong royong scheme,” he continued.
Wiku added that a specific mechanism will be announced since the government is still coordinating the mutual cooperation program.
“Most importantly, companies will fund the program and it will be free of charge for the recipients,” he said.
He stated that the main objective of the mutual cooperation vaccine programme is to accelerate the vaccination drive in Indonesia to achieve the target of herd immunity.
To ensure the success of the vaccination program, Wiku said that the Health Ministry is considering vaccination on a drive-thru basis, especially in regions outside of Jakarta. This will help to vaccinate as many people as possible.
Previously, private companies that are members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have been ready to pay up to Rp1 million per person for the financing of the mutual cooperation vaccination program or independent vaccines given by companies to employees or labourers for free.
“We have spent between Rp500,000 to Rp1 million for a set of vaccines, for two injections,” said Deputy Chairman for International Relations of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shinta Widjaja Kamdani.
This amount finances two doses of vaccine as well as a set of single-use medical devices used in the injection process.
Last week, the Health Ministry issued the regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia number 10 of 2021 concerning the implementation of vaccinations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the regulations refers to the mutual cooperation vaccination programme, or independent vaccines carried out by private companies for employees and labourers.
This regulates the upper limit of the price of vaccines and the price of vaccination services for the programme, as determined by the Health Minister. Currently, the price of the vaccine for this programme is unknown as it isn’t available yet.
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