- Raja Lumbanrau y Rebecca Henschke
- BBC News Indonesia
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Image source, Getty Images
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The call is intended to protect healthcare workers.
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At least 20 doctors and 10 nurses in Indonesia died between February and June this year, despite being vaccinated with two doses against covid-19, according to the country’s health workers association.
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Experts are now calling for them to receive a third dose of Sinovac (the Chinese vaccine also given in Chile, Uruguay and several other Latin American countries), as Indonesia fights a surge in infections driven by new variants. .
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At the entrance to a vaccination center on the outskirts of Jakarta, hundreds of people push to enter. A guard tells them to be patient, there is no room inside.
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Less than 8% of the population(250 million) from Indonesia have been vaccinated and with a dramatic increase in cases, driven by new variants like the delta, people are desperate for protection.
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Inside, the local mayor, Arief Wismamsyah, explains that there has been a misunderstanding: They must register before approaching, he says.
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Outside, over a loudspeaker, the guards tell people to go home … but no one moves.
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“No effect”
Indonesia currently registers more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, although experts say the number is in all likelihood much higher, given insufficient testing is done outside the capital Jakarta.
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Image source, Antara/Reuters
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The lines in front of the vaccination centers are immense.
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But even among the immunized, there is growing concern about how much protection the Chinese-made vaccine will provide.
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Of the 949 health workers who died from covid-19 in Indonesia between February and June, 20 doctors and 10 nurses had received both doses of Sinovac.
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Doctors are reluctant to speak publicly, but admit that they feel very vulnerable.
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A lung specialist, who prefers to remain anonymous, is one of those who received her two doses.
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After a month, he says he had a test to check the level of antibodies needed to fight the disease in his body.
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“It had no effect. no vaccine it generated me antibodies“he told the Indonesian BBC service.” I did it again a month later and got the same results. “
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She acknowledges that some of her colleagues did better, but the Sinovac vaccine had little or no effect on her, she notes.
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essays
Sinovac was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO), which indicated that results had shown that it prevented symptomatic disease in the 51% of theas people vaccinateas.
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He also noted that the vaccine prevented severe cases of covid-19 and hospitalization in 100% of the population studied.
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Image source, EPA
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Health workers began to be vaccinated with Sinovac in January.
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Sinovac Biotech, which makes the vaccine, insists that two doses are enough to offer protection against severe cases of the disease.
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The pharmacist reported that it is conducting clinical trials on the efficacy of a third injection and states that the first results are encouraging.
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“After two injections, our body has already produced an immune memory. As for in which cases the third injection will be needed, we must give the researchers more time to study it,” Yin Weidong, CEO of Sinovac told TV recently. Central China.
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Yin explained that when volunteers who had been twice vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine received a third injection after three and six months, the antibody response was multiplied by 10 in one week and by 20 in 15 days.
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The Indonesian Medical Association’s risk mitigation team says it believes that, in general, any vaccine approved by the WHO and Indonesian authorities is helping to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19.
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But now he’s evaluating whether healthcare workers should get an extra dose.
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Debate on the third dose
Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist at Griffith University in Australia, is among those who support the measure.
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“At this time when we are faced with a wave driven by new variants, it is very urgent that they receive a reinforcement. It is necessary boost effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine and increase antibodies against variants such as delta one “, he believes.
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Image source, EPA
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Indonesia relies on the Sinovac vaccine to fight the advance of the pandemic.
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Tri Yunis Miko, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, says the efficacy of the vaccine decreases over time, and remember that six months have passed since January, when health workers received their vaccinations in the country.
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But Windhu Purnomo, a professor at Airlangga University, also in Indonesia, wonders if there is any point in getting a third dose.
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“We have seen several cases of health workers who died and were fully vaccinated. That should not have happened,” he says.
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“If the Sinovac vaccine does not actually protect people against new variants, then third doses will not help.”
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Siti Nadi Tarmizi, Indonesian government spokesperson for the vaccine launch, says they are waiting for more information.
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“Regarding the suggestion of a third dose of the vaccine, there have been no scientific publications or additional WHO recommendations in this regard. Therefore, we must wait,” he said.
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“We have our own research team that is in the third phase of a clinical trial looking at the effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine after two doses. This will provide us with information on whether we need to add a third booster injection.”
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“On the brink of a catastrophe”
Indonesia has had the worst covid-19 outbreak in Southeast Asia, with around 2.1 million positive cases and 57,000 deaths till the date.
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Image source, Reuters
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The new variants are leading to an increase in the number of cases in the country.
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Last month, the Indonesian Red Cross described the country’s situation as “on the brink of a Covid-19 catastrophe,” with hospitals full and oxygen supplies at critically low levels.
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The number of children who get covid-19 has almost tripledsince May, and child deaths have risen dramatically as the country suffers the most severe wave of infections yet.
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President Joko Widodo recently announced that the government will administer the vaccine to children over the age of 12.
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And authorities announced a two-week shutdown on the main island of Java as well as Bali, with the aim of halving the number of cases.
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While other vaccines may be available in Indonesia, such as those from AstraZeneca and Sinopharm, most doses have been supplied by its close ally, China.
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