COVID-19 booster shots for Indonesia after 50% vaccination mark
Indonesia plans to administer booster shots for COVID-19 to the public as soon as 50% of its population has been fully vaccinated, said health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin. Given for free, Budi said the plan will prioritise the elderly and the poor who are insured by the government, while the rest of the population may have to pay for them. Many health workers have already received boosters – Budi expects similar for the public at the end of next month.
The minister had earlier said at parliamentary hearing that the government decided on boosters at the 50% mark due to vaccine inequity concerns at home or abroad. “Issues of injustice or ethics are so high in the world, because some countries haven’t gotten a lot of first shots,” he said.
Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country – it has inoculated 29% of its population of 270 million people, using a variety of vaccine brands. Other countries have similarly decided to give out booster shots over concerns about resistance to the coronavirus variants.
Read: FDA approves booster dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for US citizens
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