Coronavirus vaccinations for indigenous people and people with disabilities pose special challenges, spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccinations for the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, has said.
“Indigenous people and people with disabilities experienced problems regarding their identification numbers so they could not access vaccination services,” she said at the ‘Challenges of Inclusive Vaccination for Indigenous Peoples and Vulnerable Groups’ webinar on Wednesday.
The spokesperson affirmed that the problem was resolved by the Health Ministry through coordination with the director-general of population and civil registry at the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide these groups a population identification number (NIK).
However, she said, other challenges are still impeding vaccinations. For instance, many residents live in locations that are hard to access or are isolated, she informed.
For that reason, nature lovers or hikers have been roped in for guiding vaccinators to remote areas, Tarmizi said.
In addition, the Ministry of Health has also mobilized tactical vehicles belonging to the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) to reach the remote corners of the country to deliver vaccines for indigenous groups, she informed.
She also outlined the challenges faced by vaccinators in getting people with disabilities vaccinated.
According to Tarmizi, the main challenge faced is in communicating with deaf and mute people to educate them on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.
“People with disabilities are required to visit health facilities. They usually feel uncomfortable, and not all vaccinators can persuade them to get vaccinated. Therefore, we are involving disability communities and schools to get them vaccinated in stages,” she explained.
To boost 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 the Health Ministry’s data, as of November 10, 2021, nearly 127,805,106 citizens have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 81,275,819 have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Source: Antara News