COVID-19 cases are starting to ease in Indonesia’s main island of Java, but are spreading fast in its outer regions, spurring a rush for COVID-19 vaccination amid a limited supply.
Christianto Senda, who lives in the mountainous town of Mollo in East Nusa Tenggara Province, made the trip to a local health facility for his second jab, only to find that there were not enough doses available. The entrepreneur, who has made almost daily calls to check if new shots have arrived, is now weeks late for his scheduled dose.
Senda is one of millions of Indonesians living in the outer islands fighting for COVID-19 vaccines as infections rise.
Almost half of new daily cases are now found outside of the most populated island of Java, which is home to about 60 percent of Indonesians and has the largest concentration of wealth. The nation that already tops the world’s daily count of COVID-19 deaths risks a worsening outbreak as the disease spreads to areas with less-equipped healthcare systems and lower vaccination coverage.
“My worry is that people’s enthusiasm will turn into apathy,” said Senda, who runs a social enterprise program called Lakoat Kujawas. “Many walked for hours or paid for expensive transport to get the vaccine. Maybe once, twice, they will still try, but after a while, people might give up altogether.”
Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, is starting to require people to show proof of vaccination when leaving their homes, as about 78 percent of its population have gotten at least the first dose.
In East Kalimantan Province, where daily infections are catching up to Jakarta’s numbers, just 15 percent have had their first shots, Indonesian Ministry of Health data showed.
That figure is 11 percent in East Nusa Tenggara, a group of islands east of Bali.
Local media reported stops-and-starts in East and South Kalimantan provinces’ inoculation due to a lack of supply, while hundreds of people tried to break through a steel gate in the city of Medan in North Sumatra Province while screaming for vaccines.
The Indonesian government is facing the tough challenge of chasing a moving goalpost. It has focused on inoculating Java and Bali, as those areas still report the highest number of deaths, and called on local leaders to prioritize giving the limited supply of vaccines to the most vulnerable people, including older people and those with comorbidities.
Indonesia’s plight is echoed by other developing nations. As countries like Germany and the UK prepare to give booster shots to their already inoculated people, most of the world have not even received their first dose.
About 8 percent of Indonesia’s 270 million people are fully vaccinated, compared with half in the US. The country expects to get more vaccine shipment this month and the next, with a total of 300 million doses set to arrive through December.
A government survey last month revealed that most Indonesians wanted to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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