Yogyakarta: The government plans to provide vaccine the third dose for health workers (nakes), as the Delta variant of COVID-19 cases soared. Gadjah Mada University (UGM) epidemiologist Bayu Satria Wiratama assessed that the administration of the third dose of vaccine was not urgent and did not guarantee that health workers were free from exposure to the virus. varian Delta.
“The evidence is not strong yet that a third dose is needed, especially for the Delta variant,” said Bayu citing a UGM press release, Saturday, July 10, 2021.
According to Bayu, further research is needed regarding the cause of the large number of health workers who died due to COVID-19, even though they have received vaccinations. “Is it really the low effectiveness of the vaccine or is there another reason?” said Bayu.
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According to Bayu, there is very little evidence that the Delta variant causes COVID-19 to be more severe than the previous variant, so it cannot be concluded that this variant is more virulent. However, he said the evidence for the Delta variant to be more contagious was stronger.
“This is more contagious which is why there are more severe cases when the Delta variant appears. Because the Delta variant causes more people to get sick and this will be directly proportional to the increase in people with moderate-severe symptoms. So, not because of the variant itself directly,” he explained.
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He said, recently the number of patients requiring treatment has increased. On the other hand, hospital capacity cannot grow quickly. As a result, many patients do not receive treatment at a referral hospital. “This condition causes the death rate to increase,” he explained.
Bayu also highlighted data from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) which stated that around 90 percent of COVID-19 deaths occurred in people who had not been vaccinated. According to Bayu, this figure is too optimistic because it is actually still below it.
“However, for me it is still good enough to reduce fatalities in COVID-19,” he said
Bayu agrees that the government should boost the program covid-19 vaccination. This is because there are still many residents who are reluctant to vaccinate, and there are still soaring cases and special rooms for COVID-19 in hospitals are full. However, he also suggested that there should be more education, especially regarding false information or hoaxes.
“Hoax information turned out to be more massive so that it hampered the process of increasing vaccination rates,” he said.
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According to Bayu, the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to mutate, so a newer vaccine is needed. In fact, all existing vaccines, he said, could be updated according to the results of existing research.
“If it is judged that the new variant can significantly reduce the ability of the vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a booster will be made for the vaccine. However, even that, if there is a special allocation that does not interfere with vaccination in general, it can be given,” he said.
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