The public acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine in a number of countries, according to a global survey, is quite high. Public trust in the government is the determining factor in such a high acceptance rate.
By
AHMAD ARIF/DEONISIA ARLINTA GD
·5 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The acceptance rate of Covid-19 vaccines in 19 countries reaches 72 percent, a global survey has indicated. However, the public acceptance rate in Indonesia is still far below that figure.
The data serves as a warning for the Indonesian government to be more vigilant and improve communication to the public in regard to vaccines in the country.
The survey in 19 countries hard hit by Covid-19 was carried out by a research team from the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and Georgetown University Law School. The survey was published in Nature Medicine journal, Wednesday (21/10/2020).
Meanwhile, a separate survey by Laporcovid19 LaporCovid-19 (Report Covid-19) community movement, the University of Indonesia’s School of Psychology and the Higher Education Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction found that the acceptance of the Covid-19 vaccine in Indonesia was lower than that of 19 countries. Of the 2,109 respondents of the survey conducted in all provinces in the country, 31 percent would accept the Biofarma Sinovac vaccine and 69 percent others would hesitate or could even reject the vaccine. For the Red and White (local) vaccines, 44 percent of the respondents would accept them, but 56 percent of the respondents would hesitate to accept and could even rejected them.
Irma Hidayana, a public health researcher at Laporcovid, said that the low acceptance of vaccines in Indonesia indicated the weak public trust in the government in handling the pandemic. Apart from the need to improve the communication, the government is also expected not to rush the vaccination.
Public trust
According to data of the previously validated COVID-SCORE survey of more than 13,426 people in 19 countries, 72 percent of respondents would likely take the vaccine, 14 percent would refuse, and 14 percent would hesitate which means tens of millions of potential vaccine avoiders.
"We found that the problem of vaccine hesitancy is strongly related to a lack of trust in government. Vaccine confidence was invariably higher in countries where trust was higher," said Jeffrey V. Lazarus, ISGlobal researcher and study coordinator.
The country with the highest acceptance score was China at 87 percent. China had the lowest percentage of negative responses at 0.7 percent. In Singapore, 67.94 percent of respondents would accept the vaccine, lower than 74.53 percent in India. The survey data also states that Russian respondents gave the lowest number of positive response at only 55 percent.
Ayman El-Mohandes, a member of the research team, said that this data indicated the importance of building public trust in vaccines and understanding that vaccination can control Covid-19.
The vaccine acceptance was higher among the elderly than in the group under 22 years. In addition, people\'s decision about the vaccine also relied on many factors. Since the survey was conducted at the end of June 2020, the issue of vaccines has become increasingly politicized and the anti-vaccine movement has become more aggressive.
The global and national survey data should become a lesson for Indonesia so that would be more careful and can improve public communication regarding vaccines. Moreover, according to data from the Health Ministry, as of April 2020, complete basic immunization coverage was only 21.2 percent, lower than 25.9 percent in April 2019.
Indonesian epidemiologist at Griffith University, Dicky Budiman, asked the government not to impose imported vaccines under the emergency use authorization (EUA)
"Wait for clinical trials in Indonesia and evaluation. Public safety aspects must be prioritized in accordance with the mandate of Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning health, “he said.
According to Dicky, the emergency use requires strict conditions. In addition to a pandemic, there must be strong initial scientific evidence, including the results of phase III clinical trials. After the injection is complete, the outcome is monitored for a minimum of two months. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends three months after injection.
China has implemented an emergency use of the vaccine for their citizens since July 2020. The results should be published for scientific study. Some developed countries, such as Germany, have not opted for emergency use, but increased the number of people being tested in the clinic.
A request that the vaccine, which would be used, should first pass through clinical trials in the population in Indonesia was also conveyed by the chairman of the Indonesian Association of Pulmonologists ( PDPI), Agus Dwi Susanto, said in a written statement. The vaccine used must be approved by the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).
The Association of Indonesian Internal Medicine Specialists (PAPDI) reminded that the Covid-19 vaccine which would be used should be proven in terms of effectiveness, safety and immunogenicity. "There is no need to rush, while reminding residents to apply health protocols," said PAPDI chairman Sally A Nasution.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry’s Director General of Public Health Kirana Pritasari said the support of all parties was needed in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. This is especially true in efforts to promote the awareness of the people in using health protocols.
The Covid-19 Handling Task Force said in 19 Oct, that most of the Covid-19 cases in Indonesia were found in the 19-59 -year age group.