M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – An epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University, Dicky Budiman, assessed a number of factors causing the low rate of booster vaccination in Indonesia which is at 6.06 percent, far below the global average rate of 18.55 percent.

He opined that people are reluctant to get the additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine because the government has been exclaiming that the pandemic will shift into an endemic.

"[The first cause is] this excessive euphoria and optimism from the government narrating that the situation has been controlled and has become endemic. So that the spirit or risk perception, the awareness that has been built in the community has dropped. It is difficult to build it again," said Dicky to Tempo, Thursday, March 24.

Additionally, many people experienced unpleasant or even adverse events following the vaccination (AEFI). Due to the lack of literacy about AEFI, they are afraid to proceed to the third dose.

The third cause, he went on, people want to get a homogeneous vaccine while on average, people get a different vaccine brand than the first and second vaccinations for the booster.

"So the government must expand [the vaccine booster campaign] and be more proactive [in holding the third dose of vaccination program] than the first and second dose of vaccination," Dicky concluded.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1574550/epidemiologist-outlines-3-causes-of-low-booster-vaccination-rat