The feverish outbreak of Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19) in Indonesia, which has the highest mortality rate in the world among Indonesian health care workers, has not stopped health care workers from expressing concerns about the vaccine, with some doctors explicitly refusing to administer the vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac.
Reuters reports that the Indonesian government announced on Monday that Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine has been granted emergency authorization, making it the first country in the world outside of China to approve the vaccine. The vaccine will be used in a national vaccination program to be launched tomorrow, and about 1.5 million health care workers will be given priority.
The Indonesian Medical Association said at least 259 doctors had died of the disease in Indonesia as of Saturday. The association is encouraging people across the country to get vaccinated, said Daeng M. Faqih, head of the association: “We can reduce the large number of deaths of health care workers.
But Yusdeny Lanasakti, a doctor in East Java, is concerned about the efficacy of the vaccine: “I’m not rejecting the vaccine, I’m rejecting the Coxin vaccine. Another doctor, Tri Maharani, said they wanted more information to reduce concerns and mentioned that he had contracted the disease and would not receive the vaccine.
Brazilian researchers said on the 12th that the results of clinical trials in the country showed that the efficacy of protection of the Coxin vaccine was 50.4%. Indonesia approved the vaccine based on clinical data of 65.3 percent protection. Turkish researchers provided clinical data of 91.25 percent protection. The World Health Organization (WHO) requires a minimum of 50 percent protection.
Indonesian Health Ministry official Siti Nadia Tarmizi said health care workers who refuse vaccinations will not be punished, but urged medical staff to remain vigilant.
According to a poll conducted last December, only 37 percent of Indonesians were willing to be vaccinated, while 40 percent of respondents said they would consider it and 17 percent said they refused to administer it. To encourage people to get vaccinated, Indonesian President Joko Widodo took the lead in administering the vaccine today.
But Agnes Christie Supangkat, a physician in Jakarta, said she would not be convinced to get the vaccine, noting that the government is rushing to contain the outbreak, but only a few trials have been completed.
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