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Indonesia is preparing to start mass vaccination against the new coronavirus and its plan is to prioritize immunization of working-age adults over the elderly, with the aim of quickly achieving herd immunity and recovering the country’s economy.
Several countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which have already started vaccination, are prioritizing older people, who are more vulnerable to respiratory diseases. So Indonesia’s plan will be closely followed by many nations.
See what experts say about the merits and risks of Indonesia’s approach, which says working-age adults will be vaccinated after healthcare workers and front-line public officials in the fight against the pandemic.
Why focus on 18-59 year olds first?
Indonesia, which plans to start mass inoculations with Coronavac, a vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech and tested in Brazil by the Butantan Institute, says it does not yet have enough data on the effectiveness of the vaccine in the elderly, as trials are underway. clinical in the country they involve people between 18 and 59 years old.
“We are not going against the trend,” said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a senior official in the country’s Health Ministry, adding that authorities will await recommendations from Indonesian drug regulators to decide on vaccination plans for the elderly.
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While the UK and US started vaccinating with the immunizer developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech that has proven to work well for people of all ages, Indonesia has so far only had access to the Sinovac vaccine.
The Southeast Asian country has an agreement to receive 125.5 million doses of Coronavac and a first batch of 3 million doses is already in the country.
Shipment of the Pfizer vaccine to the country should begin in the third quarter, while the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford will begin shipping in the second quarter.
“I don’t think anyone can be too dogmatic about what the right approach is,” said Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National University, adding that Indonesia’s strategy may slow the spread of the disease, although it may not. affect mortality data.
“That Indonesia does it differently than the United States and Europe has value, because it will tell us if we will see a greater effect in Indonesia than in Europe or the United States, due to the strategy they are doing,” he added.
Professor Dale Fisher from the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine said he understood the logic of Indonesia’s approach.
“Young working adults are generally more active, more social and travel more, so this strategy should decrease transmission in the community faster than vaccinating older people,” he said.
“Of course, older people are at higher risk of serious illness and death, so vaccinating them has an alternative justification. I see merit in both strategies.”
Will this strategy help you achieve herd immunity faster?
By vaccinating the most socially and economically active groups first, Indonesian government officials hope that the country can quickly achieve herd immunity.
Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia’s health minister, said the country needs to vaccinate 181.5 million people, or about 67% of its population, to achieve herd immunity.
He also said that about 427 million doses of vaccines are needed, assuming a two-dose immunization regimen and a 15% waste rate.
Some experts are skeptical about how to achieve herd immunity, as more research is needed to determine whether vaccinated people can transmit the virus or not.
“There may be a risk that people can still transmit the disease to others,” said Hasbullah Thabrany, director of the Indonesian Economic Health Association.
Will this plan contribute to Indonesia’s economic recovery?
Economists have argued that a successful vaccination program, covering about 100 million people, will help boost the economy, as economic activities such as spending and production are more likely to resume.
Faisal Rachman, an economist at Mandiri Bank, said the 18-59 age group has greater consumer needs than other groups.
“They could accelerate the economic recovery more quickly because household consumption contributes more than 50% to the Indonesian economy,” he said, warning that the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country could also reduce people’s confidence.
The pandemic pushed Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, into its first recession in more than two decades last year, with the government estimating a contraction of up to 2.2%.
