Free Covid-19 vaccine for the community

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – President Joko Widodo announced that the government will release all Covid-19 vaccines.

This decision was made after interested parties received a great deal of information from the public and recalculated state finances.

“So, after receiving a lot of comments from the public and after recalculating, recalculating state finances, I can say that the Covid-19 vaccine for the public is free. Once again, it is free,” Jokowi said via the broadcast of the YouTube Secretariat. President, Wednesday (12/16/2020).

With this decision, Jokowi instructed his staff in all ministries / agencies, as well as local governments, to prioritize the vaccination program in budget year 2021.

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He also ordered Finance Minister Sri Mulyani to prioritize and reallocate another budget for the free vaccination program.

“So there is no reason for the public not to get the vaccine,” Jokowi said.

Jokowi also reiterated that he would be the first person to be vaccinated in Indonesia. This is to give confidence to the public that the Covid-19 vaccine is safe to use.

“Lastly, I remind people to remain disciplined when running 3M, wearing masks, keeping distance, washing hands for the good of all,” Jokowi said.

Previously, the government designed two Covid-19 vaccination schemes, namely free (subsidized) and paid (independent) vaccination.

The director of Prevention and Control of Direct Communicable Diseases of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, explained that there are 107 million residents of priority groups that the government targets for the injection of vaccines.

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Of these, it is estimated that around 32 million people are free and 75 million people have to pay for the vaccine.

“Yes, so the initial estimate of that number is to reach 67 percent of people who are immunized,” Nadia said on Kompas.com, on Tuesday (8/12/2020).

The first batch of the Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine arrived in Indonesia on December 6, 2020. The quantity is 1.2 million doses.