Dewi stated, “We took him here but there wasn’t enough room.” “The hospital ran out of oxygen.”
The brother died shortly after the family bought him an oxygen tank from a shop.
After slow vaccination rollsouts, Indonesia is now racing for as many people as possible to combat an explosion in COVID-19 cases which have put pressure on its health care system. However, there are major obstacles to overcome: a lack of global supply, complicated geography in the largest archipelago nation and some hesitancy from Indonesians.
The latest spike in hospital admissions has been driven by the increase in travel during May’s Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr and the spread of the coronavirus delta variant first discovered in India. The seven-day average daily case count has risen from more than 8,655 to 20,000. Nearly half the people who have been PCR tested are positive.
These numbers are not enough. Nearly 75% of provinces report a testing rate that is below the World Health Organization’s recommended benchmark of 1 test for every 1,000 people.
It is evident across Java, Indonesia’s largest island. Hospitals began to set up tents in mid-June to act as temporary intensive care units. Patients waited days to be admitted. For those who were lucky enough to be able to receive oxygen tanks, they were laid out on the sidewalk. Others were told that they would have to make their own.
New land is being cleared away from hospitals to accommodate the deceased. As gravediggers work late hours, families wait to be buried. The highest Islamic clerical authority in Indonesia issued a decree last year allowing mass graves, which are normally prohibited by Islam, during the pandemic crisis.
Although the surge is mainly concentrated in Java, it’s only a matter of time until it affects other parts of the archipelago. There, the fragile health facilities and the underfunded health staff are more vulnerable.
For fear of harming the economy, Southeast Asia’s largest, the government has resisted imposing stricter COVID-19 regulations. Last year, it recorded its first recession in eight years. The government announced this week its most stringent measures for 2021, which include work from home and the closing of malls and places of worship, as well as restricting deliveries to restaurants.
“We have reached an agreement with the mayors and governors to enforce these emergency measures,” Luhut Binsar Paandjaitan, who was appointed to head the pandemic response, said.
A lack of enforcement means that some health professionals doubt the effectiveness of the measures.
Budiman stated that Indonesia still lacks sufficient testing capacity and that isolation and quarantine strategies don’t work well. He also said that there is not enough active case-finding. “The government should focus on three strategies: strengthening testing and quarantine, early treatment, and early treatment.
The vaccines are the only way to get out of Indonesia without having to go into lockdown.
Indonesia, like many other countries has not received the vaccines it requires. It had received 118.7 millions doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines by June 30, which is far less than the required amount to vaccinate 181.5million people (or 70%) of the population. Although millions of additional doses will be delivered over the next few months, it is unlikely that enough will be available to meet the target.
Friday’s announcement by the U.S. was that it would donate 4 million doses of Moderna vaccine via the U.N.-backed COVAX program. According to Emily Horne, spokesperson for the National Security Council, Jake Sullivan, national security advisor, and Retno Marsudi, Indonesian foreign minister, discussed U.S. plans of increasing assistance to Indonesia’s wider COVID-19 response efforts.
Indonesia is also developing its own vaccine. However, even if it passes the clinical trials, production is not expected until next year.
President Joko Widodo set a goal to vaccinate 1 million people per day and has made stadiums, police stations, and neighborhood clinics mass vaccination sites. Starting in August, the government plans to increase the daily rate. Only 5% have been vaccinated so far.
Siti Nadia Tarmizi spoke out for the Indonesian vaccination program and said that priority will be given to regions with higher numbers of cases.
Geography presents enormous challenges for a country with thousands of islands spread across an area roughly as large as the United States. Transportation and infrastructure are also limited in many areas.
Officials from the government have stated that they are making preparations to train staff and secure a cold supply chain for vaccine transport.
Previous vaccination campaigns have been hampered by hesitancy and misinformation. For routine rubella shots, the Indonesian vaccination rate was as low as10%.
Budiman stated that vaccine hesitancy would really impact vaccination efforts. “Indonesia doesn’t have strong communication strategies… some people still don’t believe this pandemic exists.”
He stated that the government must make “good, strong decisions based upon science.” Or I fear that we will be in a similar position to India.
