Govt Preps More Monkeypox Vaccines for Jakarta

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Health Ministry increased the procurement of monkeypox or mpox vaccine by 4,000 doses to be distributed to several regions, including Jakarta which had received 1,000 doses a week earlier.

“More vaccines will be provided about 4,000 doses,” the ministry’s Director General of Disease Prevention and Control, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, told Tempo via WhatsApp message on Thursday evening, Nov. 2.

He explained that the vaccine doses will be distributed to regions that have reported the infectious zoonotic disease. As of Wednesday evening, November 1, Jakarta had logged 25 positive cases.

Previously, the ministry had administered 1,000 vaccine doses to 500 vulnerable people, such as men who have sex with men, pregnant women, lactating mothers, children, and the elderly. The Jakarta Health Agency aimed to roll out the vaccines to 495 people in this group.

As quoted from the city’s page surveilans-dinkes.jakarta.go.id, one patient of the total 25 cases had recovered since August 2022, while the 24 others are still under isolation in hospitals or independently. All cases were found in men aged 25 to 30 years who were infected through sexual contact with a test positivity rate of 29 percent.

There have also been six suspected cases of monkeypox in Jakarta. A total of 60 people had also undergone PCR testing and their results were negative.

Amid the rising cases of monkeypox, Jakarta Health Agency continued to educate the people on the importance of maintaining a clean and healthy lifestyle, such as wearing a mask and washing hands with soap and running water, avoiding skin contact and wounds, as well as having safe, healthy, and clean sexual relations and refraining from doing sexual activities when experiencing mpox symptoms or while sick.

AISYAH AMIRA WAKANG

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