The government plans to scale up vaccinations in houses of worship after Tarawih prayers to make it easier for the public to access COVID-19 vaccination services.
“The government will carry out vaccinations that will be carried out when Tarawih is finished. The government will also implement vaccinations in other public places such as stations, airports, bus terminals, crowd centers, and places for joint homecoming,” Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said at a virtual press conference in Jakarta on Monday.
According to Pandjaitan, increasing the ease of people in reaching vaccination outlets is an important step in the government’s efforts to maintain a good momentum in controlling the COVID-19 situation in Indonesia.
Pandjaitan stated that currently, the spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 pandemic is relatively under control, with a decrease in daily cases of 97 percent compared to the peak point, and national active cases down 83 percent compared to the current peak to less than 100 thousand.
The hospitalization rate has fallen to 85 percent and the occupancy rate (BOR) is only 6 percent, while the positivity rate is below the WHO standard, which is 4 percent.
“Since it was announced as one of the conditions for this year’s Eid al-Fitr homecoming, the daily rate of booster vaccinations throughout Java and Bali has shown signs of a fairly high increase,” Pandjaitan noted.
Currently, the vaccination rate for booster doses has reached only 23.6 million, while the second dose coverage has reached 159.9 million.
Meanwhile, he said, the government has allowed the public to carry out worship during the fasting month while maintaining strict health protocols, namely wearing masks, checking temperature, and ensuring good ventilation in places of worship.
“In addition, the government is also distributing masks and hand soap to mosques for people who are carrying out worship during the month of Ramadan,” Pandjaitan added.
Source: Antara News