Optimal Vaccination, 3M and 3T

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

The community health center (Puskesmas) in Cilincing subdistrict, North Jakarta conducts a COVID-19 vaccination simulation on Tuesday (12/1/2021). The simulation includes registration, screening or health examinations, vaccination and post-vaccination observation. The observation lasts 30 minutes to see if there are any side effects after a person receives the vaccine. The government plans to begin the Covid-19 vaccination program on 13 Jan, 2021. President Joko Widodo will be the first person to be injected with the Covid-19 vaccine.

Indonesia has begun a new phase in its Covid-19 response: mass vaccination. However, to successfully curb the spread of the virus, the country has to ensure the totality of its vaccination drive as well as the implementation of its “3M” health protocols and “3T” measures.

In the past year, the several programs that have been launched to mitigate the Covid-19 outbreak, be they the “3M” health protocols of face masks, handwashing and physical distancing or the “3T” measures of testing, tracing, and treatment, have yet to be successful in flattening the curve of transmission. Instead, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has continued to increase each day.

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Over the last two months in particular, the country has recorded a dramatic surge in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases. Data on 16 Jan. 2021 showed that the weekly rolling average was 11,180 new Covid-19 cases per day. Meanwhile, there were only 6,179 new cases on 16 Dec. 2020. The figure was even lower on 16 Nov. 2020 at 4,297 new cases.

Furthermore, the number of people who have died of the disease has also continued to increase sharply. On 16 Nov. 2020, the weekly rolling average for Covid-19 deaths was 87 deaths per day. A month later on 16 Dec. 2020, the country had recorded 154 deaths, and then 260 Covid-19 deaths on 16 Jan. 2021.

The next challenge is to administer the vaccination program to provide coverage for 181.5 million Indonesians over a 15-month period.

Mass vaccination is deemed highly necessary and the program must not fail. The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has stated that the efficacy rate of CoronaVac, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech that will be the primary vaccine distributed in Indonesia, was in line with the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO) and was relatively high at 65.3 percent. The next challenge is to administer the vaccination program to provide coverage for 181.5 million Indonesians over a 15-month period. The supply and distribution of the vaccine, as well as its mass administration, are indeed no easy matter.

AFP PHOTO/ WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

This handout TV grab taken on January 5, 2021 shows World Health Organization (WHO) Ethiopian Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press briefing on Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) via video link from the WHO headquarters in Geneva. - An international expert team has set off for China to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Beijing has yet to provide the necessary access, the WHO chief said January 5, 2021. "Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalised the necessary permissions for the team\'s arrivals in China," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated several months ago that mass vaccination was extremely important, but that it would not be enough on its own to stop the pandemic. Globally, the vaccine supply is still far from the needed amount. Meanwhile, many countries continued to see new spikes in both Covid-19 cases and deaths. Ghebreyesus warned that this was not the time for complacency, adding that those countries that were letting the virus to spread unchecked were “playing with fire”.

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Gherbeyesus emphasized that mass vaccination was not a cure-all. In order to tackle the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 and which continues to take the lives of our loved ones, everyone must do everything in their power to curb its transmission, including wearing masks, physical distancing, avoiding large crowds, washing hands, and ensuring adequate ventilation. Rapid response in isolating and treating those who had contracted the virus and providing much-needed support was also very important, in addition to ensuring the fair distribution of vaccines.

Asymptomatic people who carry the virus remain free to move around and interact with others. The number of infected families had increased.

Based on observation in the field, large numbers of people who are not wearing masks can still be spotted at traditional markets and other public facilities. In addition, the tracing standard of a minimum 30 close contacts per confirmed case has yet to be implemented in a proactive manner. Asymptomatic people who carry the virus remain free to move around and interact with others. The number of infected families had increased.

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Increasing funds, measures, public participation and the use of vaccination-related technology, as well as the implementation of the 3M health protocols and the 3T measures, are absolutely vital. If 260 people are dying of Covid-19 every day, too many lives will be lost without drastic improvements. We can save them with optimal efforts.

(This article was translated by Camilia Adianti)