House Speaker Puan Maharani Says Vaccine Boosters Must Be Given Free
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4 January 2022 19:50 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The House of Representatives (DPR) speaker Puan Maharani asked the government to provide the extra dose of COVID-19 vaccine for free to the public. “Vaccine boosters must be given free because vaccines are the basic needs of the people which are the responsibility of the state,” said Puan in a written statement, Tuesday, January 4.
The government planned to administer booster shots to the general public from January 12, 2022. The free shots are planned to be given to people who are listed as participants of the government-subsidized (PBI) program of BPJS Kesehatan.
The rest individuals or non-PBI will have to pay for the booster shots. The government has not yet set the tariff of the booster vaccines for the paid category.
Puan suggested that a paid booster vaccine program for the upper-middle class could be an option if the state economy could not cover the vaccination program. The DPR hoped that the government pays close attention to the PBI data, considering that this group often faces difficulties to get access to health services.
“Make sure that all underprivileged people are included in the PBI list of BPJS Kesehatan, be it the elderly or the general public, so they can really get health services without worrying about the costs,” said Puan Maharani.
Read: Vaccine Booster Not Urgent in Indonesia, Says Epidemiologist
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