Health Ministry Urges People to Not Neglect Health Protocols

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Widyawati, Director of health promotion and community empowerment at the Ministry of Health, remarked at a public seminar on Tuesday that the community must not neglect to implement the health protocols since COVID-19 is still being transmitted though the number of cases has dipped slightly of late.

"Because maybe currently (cases are) declining slightly, so (people have) become negligent," she added.

In the past, the upward trend in COVID-19 cases in Indonesia was partly caused by low health protocol compliance among the people, she noted. According to her, the high mobility of the community also caused spikes in cases earlier.

Further, many people have not received the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. As per data from the Ministry of Health, the first dose coverage has reached 87.50 percent, the second dose 73.41 percent, and the third dose 28.21 percent as of November 13, 2022.

According to Widyawati, there is a need to continuously accelerate vaccinations and increase vaccination coverage as part of the key strategy for overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

"The achievement of primary vaccinations, indeed, must be increased to reach community immunity nationally," she remarked.

The effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccination is high in preventing the occurrence of severe symptoms and death following a COVID-19 infection. There are at least two groups that are the main focus of efforts to achieve herd immunity, namely the elderly, who are a high-risk group, and those who have not completed their primary vaccinations.

To this end, partnership with the community through education and communication would provide a very big support for encouraging people to get vaccinated, she said.

Health campaigns must continue to be carried out to curb COVID-19 transmission and improve people's understanding of preventive measures, she added.

The National Health Day commemorated recently has offered a strong momentum to people to maintain good health and comply with the health protocols, routinely perform physical activities, and protect themselves by completing their vaccination doses, Widyawati said.

ANTARA

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