Jakarta (ANTARA) – Deputy Head of the Eijkman Institute for Fundamental Research, Prof. Herawati Sudoyo, said that the majority of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers in various countries are competing to achieve an efficacy level of up to 70 percent.
“There is indeed a decrease in efficacy when the COVID-19 vaccine fights the mutation of the COVID-19 virus. However, this does not reduce the meaning of the protection provided by the COVID-19 vaccine itself,” he said at Tuesday’s Productive Spirit Dialogue entitled “Vaccination Efforts to Achieve Herd Immunity.” “which was monitored by ANTARA virtually in Jakarta, Tuesday.
Herawati said that until now research has shown that there is not a single COVID-19 vaccine that is ineffective in preventing the mutation of the COVID-19 virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, Herawati said, encouraging the government to carry out massive vaccinations to reduce the number of COVID-19 transmissions in Indonesia.
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The provision of this vaccine is the most appropriate solution to reduce the number of cases of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, which has begun to mutate in several countries, including mutations that have entered Indonesia.
Regarding the government’s efforts to make the vaccination program a success, Herawati encourages scientists to continue to speak to the public in order to straighten out the confusion of information by enforcing scientific evidence and data.
“Post Immunization Follow-Up (KIPI) due to COVID-19 vaccination, for example. It only occurs in what percentage of the millions of people who have been vaccinated. However, it is these little things that get in the news and become big. I think this is where scientists talk about data,” said Herawati.
At the same event, UNICEF Communication Specialist, Rizky Ika Safitri, suggested that the use of simple communication that is easy for the public to understand would help make the vaccination program a success.
The government also continues to strive to bring in a COVID-19 vaccine through various channels to make the vaccination program a success.
Bio Farma Vaccination Spokesperson Bambang Heriyanto said that until the end of 2021, vaccine manufacturers such as Sinovac have committed to sending vaccines in bulk in the amount of 260 million doses.
There are also vaccines that will be imported from multilateral cooperation channels or Covax facilities, which now have 8 million doses.
“Then we also have other sources from the bilateral agreement with AstraZeneca with a commitment of 50 million, Novavac 50 million, and if from Covax we can get a commitment of up to 20 percent of the population, we can meet the need for vaccine doses for herd immunity,” said Bambang. .*
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Reporter: Andi Firdaus
Editor: Erafzon Saptiyulda AS
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