VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) proposed Simultaneous Covid-19 vaccination to protect all Indonesian citizens against new infections.

The General Chair of the IDI Executive Board, Daeng M Faqih, said it has to be simultaneous because the Covid-19 vaccine only has 6 months to 2 years to protect the body from the virus.

"This vaccine has the power to protect immunity. It is time-bound, so we see at least it can last for 6 months to protect, so this vaccination must be carried out simultaneously," Daeng said in a webinar on Thursday.

"In implementing vaccination, we have discussed that professional organizations such as IDI, PPNI, and Midwives' Association, which usually carry out vaccination activities, will merge to help the Task Force to vaccinate in the field," said Daeng.

Until now, there are three vaccine candidates from the international cooperations that will be used in Indonesia, namely the Sinovac, Sinopharm (G42) vaccine, and the CanSino vaccine.

Minister of State-owned Enterprises Erick Thohir emphasized that those who had the first chance to get the vaccine were health workers, namely doctors, nurses, and midwives.

"We are mapping all health workers, doctors, and nurses who will receive their first immunizations when the vaccine is ready for use early next year and are also at the forefront of mass immunization," Erick said in the press conference.

"Today we consulted with IDI and PPNI, we communicated the number for doctors, nurses, midwives including doctors, nurses in the National Army, National Police, they must get the vaccine first because they are the front liners," said Erick. (RRI)