Need to Vaccinate 50% Jakartans to Build Herd Immunity, says Governor

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has said that 50 percent of Jakarta residents need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to build herd immunity and control COVID-19 transmission.

"So our homework is not over. The homework is still long. It must be done seriously," he said at an online press conference here on Saturday.

Vaccinations must be done by involving all sides to persuade residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19, he added.

"The success (of the program) will not be (determined by) how many vaccines have been administered, but how many residents have been vaccinated," he remarked.

As of Friday (July 9, 2021), more than 5.38 million Jakarta residents have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose and over 1.95 million residents have been fully vaccinated against the virus, he disclosed.

The Jakarta provincial government is intensifying the COVID-19 vaccination of residents aged 12 years and above at a number of vaccination centers, he said.

The provincial government has also rolled out mobile vaccination services targeting residential areas, including densely-populated areas, he added.

The result of a serology survey conducted by a team of researchers from University of Indonesia's public health faculty has shown that 49.2 percent of Jakarta residents contracted COVID-19 in June, 2021.

Baswedan expressed the hope that the residents who contracted the infection would have immunity against SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

UI epidemiologist Pandu Riono said vaccinations should be high on the list of the Jakarta administration's priorities since nearly 50 percent of Jakarta residents have no antibodies against the virus.

Read: TNI to Assist Govt in Handling Covid-19 Patients

ANTARA