Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – The government Thursday announced that Covid-19 vaccines are still free, thus encouraging people to use this chance to get their jabs.

The statement came a day after Indonesia declared an end to the pandemic status for Covid-19 after most Indonesians had developed antibodies against the virus.

"The government is still paying for the Covid-19 vaccination and treatment. The government will work on any upcoming policies on this matter," Wiku Adisasmito, the spokesperson for the Covid-19 task force, told a press briefing on Thursday.

"So to those who have not been vaccinated up to the second dose, please go to nearby vaccination sites. Going forward, people should protect one another to ward off Covid-19," Wiku said.

Government data shows 86.87 percent of the targeted 234.6 million people have gotten their first Covid-19 dose. About 74.54 percent have gotten their second dose.

"The vaccination rate for the third dose stood at 38.01 percent. We still need to work on this," Wiku said.

The Covid-19 task force also revealed that the bed occupancy rate stood at 60 percent in February last year, during which Indonesia was combatting the Omicron wave. The bed occupancy rate has now dropped to 1.7 percent.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Wednesday said that the government took the serosurvey results into account before deciding to revoke the pandemic status.

The serosurvey reported that 99 percent of Indonesians had developed Covid-19 antibodies. According to Jokowi, the shift to endemic status is expected to give a major boost to Indonesia's economy.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/govt-confirms-covid19-vaccines-are-still-fre