Day: January 11, 2022

The Jakarta provincial government has prepared four school buses to evacuate COVID-19 patients from Krukut, Taman Sari Sub-district, West Jakarta, to Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Emergency Hospital in Kemayoran.

“We have prepared four buses with four drivers, who are on standby if needed,” head of the school transportation management unit (UPAS) of the Jakarta Transportation Office, Ali Murtadho, said here on Tuesday.

The four buses comprise two minibuses with a capacity of 17 people and two medium buses, which can carry 20 people, he informed.

“The buses will come to pick up (patients) if the village (Krukut) calls,” he added.

According to Murtadho, after the buses take patients to Wisma Atlet, they will be immediately sterilized with disinfectant. Since last week, the buses and health center officers have taken several COVID-19-positive Krukut residents to Wisma Atlet, he added.

“At first, we took 14 people, then we drove 19 more to Wisma Atlet,” he informed.

Four buses will remain available during the COVID-19 tracing process in Krukut, he added.

“We hope this effort can help the village in evacuating its positive citizens,” Murtadho explained.

Earlier, 10 Krukut residents were confirmed positive for COVID-19, based on the results of antigen swab and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on Monday (January 10, 2022).

“The positive residents are currently self-isolating while waiting for approval (to be treated at) Wisma Atlet,” head of Krukut village, Ilham Nurkarin, informed.

The PCR and antigen swab tests were conducted after 36 Krukut residents tested positive for COVID-19, he said.

The total number of Krukut residents who tested positive for COVID-19 was 46, he added. However, Nurkarin did not state whether they had been exposed to the Omicron variant or not.

Source: Antara News

The COVID-19 Handling Task Force of Bali Province, together with district and city task forces, has prepared 1,500 beds at isolation centers to anticipate the spread of the Omicron variant.

“The province’s task force is managing as many as 700 beds, and 800 beds are being managed by the task force of nine districts and cities,” secretary of the Bali COVID-19 Handling Task Force, I Made Rentin, said here on Tuesday.

Even though the Omicron variant has not been detected in Bali, the province has prepared six anticipatory measures, he informed.

First, control has been tightened at the country’s entry points by implementing a quarantine policy, and second, tracing, testing, and surveillance have been intensified, he said.

Next, efforts are being made to boost COVID-19 vaccination coverage and expand the use of the PeduliLindungi application, he added.

Fifth, 62 COVID-19 referral hospitals have been prepared and last, 1,500 beds have been readied at isolation centers, Rentin said.

As of January 10, 2022, Bali province has recorded 58 active cases of COVID-19, the task force reported. Of the total, 36 patients are undergoing treatment at COVID-19 referral hospitals, 9 patients are in isolation centers, and 13 people are undergoing self-isolation, it said.

Meanwhile, as of January 10, 2022, as many as 3,498,461 residents or 102.74 percent of the targeted recipients in Bali have received the first vaccine dose while 3,112,085 or 91.39 percent have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

In a bid to achieve herd immunity, Bali province is targeting to vaccinate as many as 3,405,130 residents.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of January 11, 2022, at least 4,267,451 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,116,648 people have recovered, and 144,144 people have succumbed to the virus.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Government would give booster shots to the people at large by taking into account the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said

Indonesia already has enough vaccines from the 2021 vaccine procurement contract that will arrive in Indonesia in early 2022, he said in a press statement issued here on Tuesday.

In addition, booster vaccines have also been obtained from other nations through donations such as through the COVAX facility and bilateral cooperation programs, he said.

According to the minister, COVAX has provided vaccine assistance for 20 percent of Indonesia’s population.

“It has been confirmed that it will be increased to 30 percent of Indonesia’s population, or equivalent of 27 million people, or 54 million doses of free vaccines,” he revealed.

The type of booster vaccines will be determined based on vaccine readiness and research results approved by the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) and the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), Sadikin affirmed.

Primary Sinovac vaccine participants will be given a half dose of Pfizer vaccine as a booster, he informed. Meanwhile, full-dose primary Sinovac recipients will be given a half dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, he added.

People who have received the complete dose of the AstraZeneca primary vaccine will get a half dose of the Moderna vaccine as a booster, he said.

Several studies have shown that both homologous (same type) and heterologous (different type) combinations of booster vaccines produce similar increases in antibodies, he highlighted.

According to Sadikin, many research results have proven that both half-dose and full-dose boosters have similar effects on recipients, but half-dose has a less severe adverse event following immunization (AEFI).

He also said that the booster vaccine program will currently prioritize the elderly and vulnerable groups.

“The booster vaccination is the government’s commitment to protecting all Indonesian communities from the threat of COVID-19 and its variants,” Sadikin added.

Source: Antara News

Citizens who are eligible for the prioritized booster shot or third COVID-19 vaccine dose can check the vaccination ticket and schedule on the PeduliLindungi website and application, an official from the Ministry of Health has said.

“Check the booster vaccination ticket and schedule on PeduliLindungi,” spokesperson for the ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said here on Tuesday.

Booster vaccinations will commence for the public on Wednesday (January 12, 2022) at several government-owned health facilities, such as community health centers, central hospitals, and regional hospitals, she informed.

The booster vaccinations will be provided to those aged 18 and above and who have taken the second dose at least six months ago.

According to Tarmizi, the elderly and vulnerable people registered as fund assistance recipients (PBI) under the National Health Insurance (JKN) program will be prioritized for booster vaccinations.

She informed that health officers will determine the vaccine that will be provided as the third dose by taking into account the vaccine administered for the first and second dose as well as the availability of vaccines.

Tarmizi said the vaccination ticket can be used at the nearest health facilities or vaccination booths by following the time schedule on PeduliLindungi.

The spokesperson said that vaccination is required to carry out activities in public spaces and has been integrated with the PeduliLindungi application.

“Make sure not to use other people’s ID numbers and phone numbers when registering for booster vaccinations to avoid administrative problems in the future,” she added.

In a bid to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021.

According to data provided by the Health Ministry, as of January 11, 2022, nearly 171,445,921 Indonesians have received their first COVID-19 jab, while 117,650,566 have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

The Ministry of Health had earlier announced that the booster or third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine would be rolled out for the public from January 12, 2022.

Source: Antara News

Indonesia and India joined other countries in helping the people of Afghanistan face freezing winter conditions and in desperate need of food.

Following President Joko Widodo’s orders in response to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, two Garuda Indonesia’s aircraft carrying humanitarian aid including 65 tonnes of food left to Kabul on early Sunday.

“Indonesia will continue to strengthen and contribute towards humanitarian diplomacy. For Indonesia, the safety and wellbeing of the people will always be the priority,” Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi tweeted.

Earlier, India sent two tonnes of life-saving medicines to the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul, the third tranche of aid sent to the country since December 2021.

The country routed the medicines through Dubai last Friday, as there are currently no direct flights between India and Afghanistan, before handing over to the World Health Organisation representative.

“In the coming weeks, we would supply more batches of humanitarian assistance comprising of medicines and food grains to Afghanistan,” online media quoted India’s external affairs ministry.

The Indian government allowed a special charter flight last month loaded with 1.6 tonnes of medicines and supplied 500,000 doses of corona vaccine on Jan 1.

Independent humanitarian group, ACAPS says access to health services is challenging in Afghanistan.

Almost 90 per cent of 2,300 health facilities have closed after the withdrawal of US troops and the Taliban takeover of the country on Aug 15 and the suspension of foreign donors’ assistance.

The World Bank’s data showed foreign aid once made up nearly 75 per cent of Afghanistan’s public expenditures.

After Aug 15, the US froze over US$9 billion in the Afghan Central Bank’s American accounts, while major funders like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund also paused disbursements.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The regional police of North Sumatra Province has deployed special teams to carry out door-to-door COVID-19 vaccinations to scale up vaccine coverage, especially among older adults.

“North Sumatra Police has intensified vaccinations by visiting residents directly at their homes in order to reach the COVID-19 vaccination target,” North Sumatra Police’s public relations chief, Senior Commissioner Police Hadi Wahyudi, said here on Tuesday.

Twenty-one vaccinator teams have been deployed on motorcycles to carry out door-to-door vaccinations in 21 sub-districts in Medan City, he informed.

He said that the teams have been deployed in order to bump up vaccination coverage among older adults in the Medan city area to 60 percent.

COVID-19 vaccinations for older adults have been accelerated, especially amid the Omicron spread in Indonesia, because they are considered vulnerable to contracting the virus, he explained.

“Vaccinations for older adults are targeted to finish in two days. We hope all the vaccines that the vaccinators bring can be administered. If the vaccines run out, vaccine stock will be delivered to the team on the field,” Wahyudi asserted.

In a bid to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

According to data provided by the Health Ministry, as of January 11, 2022, nearly 171,445,921 Indonesians have received their first COVID-19 jab, while 117,650,566 have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

North Sumatra is targeting to vaccinate as many as 11,419,559 residents.

As per the ministry’s data, so far, 9,033,671 residents in the province or 79.11 percent of the targeted recipients have been immunized with the first dose, while 5,904,176 or 51.7 percent of the targeted recipients have obtained the second dose.

Source: Antara News