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COORDINATING Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan hinted at the possibility of the government mandating booster vaccination as a travel requirement if the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia continue to increase.
“Let us get the booster dose because if in July, the number (of cases) continues to increase, we maybe will use booster vaccination as a travel requirement. This is for the common good,” he stated at the 2022 Lagawifest Proud of Indonesian Products National Movement (Gernas BBI) held in Lampung, on Thursday (6/23).
Pandjaitan affirmed that currently, the pandemic situation is still under control despite an upward trend in cases due to the BA4 and BA5 Omicron subvariants.
However, he ensured the public that the hospital occupancy rate was still at 96.5 percent, lower as compared to that recorded during the peak of the Omicron spread earlier.
He further noted that the bed occupancy rate was still low, at 1.9 percent, and the positivity rate stood at 3.3 percent, still below the WHO standard of five percent. In addition, the COVID-19 mortality rate was still categorized as low.
Nevertheless, the minister urged the public to remain alert and get the booster vaccine dose immediately.
According to Pandjaitan, the booster vaccine would decrease the risks of the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants.
He reminded the public that currently, several countries, including the United States, Singapore, and Malaysia, were witnessing an increase in COVID-19 cases.
To this end, he urged the community to continue to adhere to the health protocols and follow the government’s instructions.
The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was confirmed in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of June 23, 2022, the nation had recorded 6,072,918 COVID-19 cases, 5,904,825 recoveries, and 156,702 deaths. [antaranews/photo special]
