Vaccinations for the Elderly in Papua Start Next Week

The provision of the Covid-19 vaccine for elderly people in Papua Province is planned for next week. Currently, the province is still focused on completing vaccinations for health workers. The total number of elderly residents recorded in Papua is 252,800 people.

Director of the Karubaga Regional General Hospital in Tolikara Regency, Delwien Ester, when contacted from Jayapura, Thursday (4/3/2021), said that his party had not implemented Covid-19 vaccination for residents with the elderly category. Because, vaccines are still focused on health workers, who are still very low.

"We are trying to increase vaccination coverage for health workers. Meanwhile, the vaccines for the elderly have not been sent to Tolikara, ”said Delwien.

A similar sentiment was conveyed by the Director of the Tiom Regional General Hospital, Nataniel Imanuel Hadi, in Lanny Jaya Regency. He stated that the Lanny Jaya Regency Government had not yet received the Covid-19 vaccine for the elderly. "Currently, we are still providing the first phase of vaccines for health workers. We hope that a special vaccine will be distributed soon for elderly people who are susceptible to exposure to Covid-19, "he said.

Covid-19 cases have been found in 1 city and 21 districts out of 29 districts / cities in Papua. From data from the Papua Province Covid-19 Control, Prevention and Handling Task Force until last Wednesday, the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases reached 18,485 people. As many as 5 percent of the total cases are elderly residents.

The data on the positivity rate of Covid-19 in Papua is still relatively high, reaching 16.46 percent as of Monday (1/3/2021). This figure is far above the threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is 5 percent.

The Head of the Disease Prevention and Control Division of the Papua Provincial Health Office, Aaron Rumainum, said that the vaccination stage for public workers and the elderly will only be held next week. Currently, the vaccine distribution process is still ongoing to districts and cities in Papua.

"In the initial stage, we will send 3,370 vials for the categories of public workers and elderly citizens. One vial can be used to vaccinate up to eight people, ”said Aaron. So far, only two elderly people have been vaccinated in Papua.

Head of the Papua Provincial Health Office, Robby Kayame, said a total of 2,700 vaccinators were deployed to make vaccination successful in Papua. It is targeted that 75 percent of Papuans have received the Covid-19 vaccine by next year. "We are still holding a meeting to prepare for the vaccination of the elderly. This is because the distribution of vaccines for this category from the central government has not been completed, ”said Robby.

He also appealed to regional heads to take more initiative and commit to increasing immunization coverage for health workers who are still low. It is known, only 11 areas whose vaccination coverage exceeds 50 percent, namely Merauke, Biak Numfor, Paniai, Mimika, Asmat, Keerom, Nabire, Jayapura City, Jayawijaya, Boven Digoel, and Jayapura Regency.

While 18 other regions are still below 50 percent, there are even some regions that are still below 10 percent. A number of areas with low vaccination coverage in Papua include Yahukimo District (0.2 percent), Bintang Mountains District (2.8 percent), Waropen District (4.9 percent), and Nduga District (5.4 percent).

A total of 13,670 health workers in the first phase received the vaccine and 5,607 health workers who received the second phase Covid-19 vaccine. The target of health workers in Papua who must receive the Covid-19 vaccine is 18,352 people.

Source: https://www.kompas.id/baca/nusantara/2021/03/04/vaksinasi-untuk-warga-lansia-di-papua-dimulai-pekan-depan/