Govt Plans to Launch Commercialized Vaccine Booster in 2022: Health Minister

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed the government's plan to launch a commercialized vaccine booster option in 2022. The vaccine booster is planned to be able to be purchased at pharmacies.

Medically, there is a discussion regarding a difference in understanding between a vaccine booster and a third vaccine.

In August 2021, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended immunocompromised people get a third vaccine.This recommendation arises because people with moderate to severe immune disorders are unable to build sufficient protection despite receiving two doses of the vaccine.

As for other people without immune disorders, so far experts have not recommended getting the vaccine back. Additional vaccines for people without immune disorders are called vaccine boosters. In which, they are still reviewing the administration of a vaccine booster.

Reporting from the Cleveland Clinic's website, pediatrician Michelle Medina explained that the third dose of vaccine is given because the two initial doses of vaccine did not provide enough protection against the Covid-19 virus.

“In a review conducted by the FDA and CDC, people who need a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine are those who are immunocompromised and people who are on any medication that renders their immune response insufficient to protect against the Covid-19 virus. For these people, two doses of the mRNA vaccine are not sufficient,” Medina wrote.

Meanwhile, Medina explained that the booster vaccine is a vaccine given to people without immune disorders. This vaccine will be given because there is a possibility that the first and second vaccines will decrease in effectiveness over time.

In addition, experts are also concerned that the previous two-dose vaccine may not work well against newer variants, such as the current Delta variant.

The vaccine booster is usually given after a certain amount of time, unlike the third vaccine which is given right after the first two doses of vaccine. The hope is that the immune system will continue to produce antibodies and give it enough time to actually have an adequate immune response.

According to Medina, however, over time the immune system needs a vaccine booster to boost and strengthen the immune response that the body has generated after the initial two doses of injection. Until now, the FDA and CDC are still reviewing the need for a vaccine booster for healthy people.

Read: 34 Percent Healthcare Workers Receive Vaccine Booster

Iqbal Muhtarom | Maudey K. Setyakusuma (Internship)