TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Health Ministry’s Covid-19 vaccine spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi on Monday assured that the ‘gotong royong’ vaccine - which is the name given to the private vaccination program - will continue as planned despite facing numerous rejections from epidemiologists.

“The Health Ministry Regulation has already been issued,” said Tarmizi on March 1.

The spokesperson refers to the Health Ministry’s regulation No.10/2021 that was introduced on February 24 which legalizes vaccinations funded by the private sector which the government entitles ‘gotong royong,’ which is translated to mutual cooperation.

This program enables vaccinations for individuals or company employees that are fully funded by a legal entity or business entity.

Tarmizi maintains that this program will not cause disparity among members of the public and believes that the private vaccination will accelerate the national goal to reach herd immunity that is hoped to eventually break the chain of Covid-19 infections.

In order to address the epidemiologists and other critics of the program Tarmizi plainly put it down to people having different perspectives on the private vaccination “maybe it’s just the difference in how we view things. This is done by companies and those who are vaccines are the employees or laborers working in that company,” she said.

Also Read: Epidemiologist Petitions Against Private Vaccinations

DEWI NURITA