A total of 500 community members of Diponegoro University consisting of lecturers, staff, student employees, and 100 people from the general public were registered for the follow-up vaccination program or booster vaccine at the Booster Vaccination Center of Diponegoro University on the fourth day of this activity. This activity was carried out at the Central Laboratory of Faculty of Medicine Undip / RSND (4/3).
“The enthusiasm of the public in participating in the booster vaccination at Undip is quite high, while the achievement of booster vaccination in Semarang is still relatively low. According to the data from the Semarang Municipal Health Office which was submitted at the end of February 2022, the booster vaccination achievement is still below 20%, so the public is asked to immediately get a booster considering that this booster vaccination is very effective in increasing immunity against Covid-19 and its variants. The majority of people have received the primary vaccination doses for 6 months to 1 year, so it is possible that the level of immunity to Covid-19 will decrease. According to published research, there is a decrease in our immune capacity over time, so booster vaccination is an effective measure. Today is the last day for the Diponegoro University Booster Vaccination Center series which starts on February 28, 2022 until March 4, 2022 at the Central Laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine Undip / RSND. After that, the Undip Booster Vaccination Center will be held at RSND General Poly with a limited quota, depending on the stock of vaccines provided from the Semarang Municipal Health Service. Registration can be done through SSO for community members of Diponegoro University and the Victori website for the general public. If it is calculated from the first day of the activity, there are approximately 1400 targets who have received booster vaccination at the UNDIP Booster Vaccination Center, including the targets who got vaccinated today,” explained dr. Farmaditya Eka Putra, M.Si.Med, Ph.D as the Head of the Vaccine Team at the Diponegoro National Hospital, Diponegoro University.
“The type of vaccine is AstraZeneca because currently it is the only available vaccine from the Health Service. When it comes to types of vaccines, the best vaccines are those available at the time, so please get a booster dose of vaccine as soon as possible. We hope that our society will not be picky about the type of vaccine because the stock is not always available. Vaccine availability depends on national distribution, so the first one is the best choice, so do not wait for the choices of vaccine. Whatever vaccines currently available in Indonesia have gone through studies, research and recommendations from the Ministry of Health together with the Indonesian Immunization Expert Advisory Committee (ITAGI) so it is hoped that their effectiveness will be approximately the same. In fact, if the booster vaccine is delayed, this will be even more dangerous, considering the increasing number of Covid-19 cases,” he continued.
dr. Farmaditya also said, for patients who have just been confirmed positive for Covid-19, the time to get a booster vaccination is 1 (one) month after recovering or being declared cured. This applies to patients who are confirmed positive for Covid-19, asymptomatic and patients with mild symptoms. This is based on the Circular Letter of the Minister of Health which is still valid today. Meanwhile, for those who are confirmed to have Covid-19 with moderate to severe symptoms, they can get vaccinated 3 (three) months after recovering or being declared cured.
“Before the booster vaccination is carried out, a screening stage is carried out first, so if there are symptoms of cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever and other symptoms that lead to Covid-19, we will inform the patients to postpone the booster vaccination and they are expected to do a Covid-19 test,” he concluded. (Lin – Public Relations)