Chasing Vaccination Targets

The future must be secured from the threat of COVID-19 as soon as possible. President Jokowi has paid attention to the availability and distribution of vaccines. The question is, can the target of vaccinating 181.5 million people in 15 months be met? What are the right steps to achieve this target?

To answer the series of questions, the Populi Forum (18/03/2021) raised the theme "Pursuing Vaccination Targets" on Thursday, March 18, 2021 via the zoom meeting application. Present at the discussion were Trubus Rahadiansyah (Public Policy Observer, Trisakti University), Julitasari Sundoro (Executive Secretary of ITAGI) and Hartanto Rosojati (Researcher, Populi Center). This discussion was moderated by Erwinton Simatupang (Researcher, Populi Center)

At the beginning of the discussion, Trubus appreciated the government's performance in handling COVID-19. However, regarding the implementation of the vaccination program with an ambitious target of 181.5 million people vaccinated in 15 months, he gave three important notes, namely the issue of leadership, the availability of vaccines and the lack of active community involvement as the main problems in the vaccination program. Furthermore, Trubus highlighted the issue of leadership in question, which is more focused on the issue of coordination which is still not running well. Trubus gave an example of policies that are often responded to differently, especially in the regions. "Poor coordination reflects policy inconsistency," he said.

Slightly different from Trubus, Julitasari Sundoro (Executive Secretary of ITAGI) actually provided information that policy coordination has been carried out very well by the government. At the beginning of the discussion, Julitasari said that implementing vaccination is not an easy matter as turning the palm of your hand. Realizing this condition, according to him, the government has been quite good at taking steps to handle the pandemic, especially the vaccination program. Coordination has been carried out since the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19. The involvement of civil society has also been carried out massively by the government. One example, according to him, in order to answer doubts about the safety and halalness of the vaccine, the government coordinated with the MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) regarding the fatwa on halal certification of the vaccine. Although he admitted that it has not yet been said to have maximum results, these efforts have never stopped until today. Julitasari added regarding information on the expiration date of the vaccine, for example, Julitasari emphasized that the actual expiration date of this vaccine is 2 years, but because this (vaccine) is new, the 6-month stability data is used as a reference as a form of caution. "For information on expired vaccines, don't worry because the first batch of vaccines has run out."

Julitasari gave an example of how the public needs to receive good and correct information, especially in the vaccination program. In addition to the issue of expiration, more specifically, Julitasari explained issues such as the postponement of the use of the Astrazeneca vaccine. "It needs to be conveyed that this does not mean that the vaccine is not suitable, but the temporary postponement of the vaccine is in the context of caution to ensure a sense of security and public trust," he said. In this context, according to him, correct information needs to be conveyed to the public, including how to handle it after vaccination.

Hartanto Rosojati (Researcher at Populi Center) at the beginning of the opportunity presented the findings of the Populi Center survey (October 2020) related to the government's handling of COVID-19 including the response and expectations of the Indonesian people towards the vaccination program. As many as 70.6 percent of the public are confident in the government's handling of COVID-19. The remaining 19.7 percent answered that they were not sure. Regarding vaccination, still referring to the findings of the same survey, 60.0 percent of the public are willing to be vaccinated and 40.0 percent stated that they are not willing. Based on the findings of the survey, Hartanto further conveyed the public's optimism and the fairly high positive response to the vaccination program. This condition is an important capital for the government in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, especially since the survey was conducted before the vaccination program began. However, according to him, it is still a joint task to not only convince the public but also invite all elements of society to become agencies in order to provide good information and education.

In the closing session, Julitasari was optimistic that the vaccination program could run well. For that, for her, good education for the community regarding the vaccination program needs to be carried out massively by all parties. Thus, it is hoped that awareness will emerge to jointly make the vaccination program a success. "Help the government to provide good information and education regarding this vaccination program," she concluded.

Hartanto at the end of the discussion emphasized the importance of good coordination between policy makers, as well as massive education to all elements of society. Thus, according to him, if this is done together and consistently, collective awareness will emerge for all people. In addition, seeing the apathy of the community which is not small, Hartanto supports the government's strategic steps to increase the effectiveness of the vaccination program. "It doesn't matter if the government then takes firm action against those who refuse vaccination," he said. Hartanto also emphasized the importance of education and data transparency regarding the vaccination program.

In response to a question from one of the discussion participants about the urgency of a militaristic approach in the vaccination program, Trubus did not question it even if for the sake of better handling, a militaristic approach was not a problem. "I think a militaristic approach is fine as long as it is considered effective." He said. In the closing session, Trubus invited all parties to think holistically. According to him, the pessimism that has emerged in society is commonplace. For that, according to him, it is actually a comprehensive evaluation for the government so that the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic runs better. "This is a kind of constructive criticism from the public to the government as well as an evaluation for the government," he said.