VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Health protocols and vaccinations are crucial for preventing a surge in coronavirus infections during the Christmas and New Year holidays, a government official has said.

"The keys to our success in facing the Christmas and New Year period are two, the first is public awareness to continue to wear masks and social distancing, and not to delay vaccination," Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said at a press conference accessed from here on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the second key is the government's seriousness in monitoring the health protocols and distributing vaccines to areas with low vaccination coverage, he said.

Currently, Indonesians are still being allowed to carry out their activities by implementing the health protocols, he noted. However, mask-wearing is not yet being monitored well despite being mandatory, he pointed out.

"In fact, in some public places such as terminals and markets, there are still many violations," he said.

For that reason, the implementation of the health protocols should be monitored seriously by ensuring that the task force is mobilized in all public places, he suggested. If people are careless, the potential for an increase in cases will be even greater, Adisasmito said.

In addition, the government also needs to increase the country's vaccination coverage since it is still less than 50 percent, he said.

Complete vaccination coverage is the current focus of the government since people can be better protected against the virus once they receive a full dose compared to only one dose, he said.

"Therefore, Indonesia can avoid the threat of a third wave after the Christmas and New Year period if at least the implementation of the health protocols and vaccination coverage continues to be increased," he added.