M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Friday virtually monitored the vaccinations held in a number of regions along with regional leaders. In this event, he received direct reports regarding obstacles and opposition from the public about the vaccination.
One of the reports came from the Sumenep Regent Achmad Fauzi, who lamented his region's low vaccination rate, especially the second dose vaccination across all demographic groups. The least vaccinated group in his region is children, which only saw 3.2 percent.
"The second dose vaccination is at 36 percent, similar to the vaccination for the elderly that amounted to 26 percent. But we will continue to boost this to reach 60 percent by the end of this month," he said to the President.
He acknowledged that one of the reasons behind the low vaccination rate is the vaccine hesitancy. "Our efforts need to be pushed a little bit more on the Madura Island and we need to help educate locals to accept vaccinations," he added.
The low vaccination rate caused by vaccine hesitancy is said to also take place in Central Sulawesi, which was confirmed by the region's deputy police chief Brig. Gen. Hery Santoso, who said the first dose jabs logged 86.66 percent while the second dose only reached 48.15 percent.
He said vaccinations among the elderly was quite low. "We face many obstacles in the elderly group. The main issue is the resistance from the people and their family members. Another challenge is they failed to pass the screening process prior to vaccination due to comorbidity and blood pressure issues," said Santoso.
The President urged regional leaders to continue their efforts and asserted the importance of vaccination, which is key to handling the COVID-19 pandemic.