Officials from the Bali Health Agency plan to start distributing the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by 2022.
The Head of the Bali Health Agency, Dr. Ketut Suarjaya, confirmed that the Bali provincial government will begin to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine boosters in 2022. Bali residents are required to join the program at their own expense.
“Bali residents need to prepare themselves for another jab of Covid-19 vaccine by next year, right after we finish our current vaccination program for senior citizens,” Dr. Suarjaya said on Friday (3/12).
Meanwhile, during the Health Business Gathering 2021, which was held in Nusa Dua on Friday, the Indonesian Health Minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, stated that despite the transmission of the Omicron variant in several different countries, authorities haven’t confirmed any single case in Indonesia.
Regardless, they increased restrictions at the border as a prevention step.
“Travel restrictions were increased to protect our borders from Omicron variant. The quarantine time for interntional travelers was even extended to 10 days,” Dr. Suarjaya added.
However, Suarjaya admitted that new Covid-19 cases were detected in schools, as the in-person learning started a few weeks ago. “Despite implementing strict prevention protocols and vaccination programs, some people have still contracted Covid-19 through schools, so we had to swab test everyone to prevent a surge in cases,” Dr. Suarjaya concluded.
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Steven
Wednesday 8th of December 2021
Maybe its time for the worlds vaccine producers to update their vaccines. There still using the original strain which has died off now, same like alpha, beta and gamma also. Delta is the dominant strain and omnicron could be the next one. With efficacy and protection reducing against newer strains maybe boosters should match current strains like the flu jab. They say it will only take a couple of months for production to start of updated vaccines that match the current strains.
Hugh
Monday 13th of December 2021
@Steven, moderna and Pfizer have already started work on developing an omicron specific booster.
Randy
Tuesday 7th of December 2021
It's a matter of time when Omicron will reach worldwide. Better be safe than sorry. Indonesia has learned quickly from the last May Covid debacle. Others think that closing the borders and imposing more mandates are a step backward.
Distribution of boosters are needed to boost more immunity. Health authorities in the West may not know much so far of this new variant or that it may evade vaccines.