Indonesia only Targets Monkeypox Vaccine for High-Risk People

TheIndonesia.id - The Monkeypox Task Force of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) emphasized that monkeypox vaccination will be specifically targeted at people at high risk of contracting the disease. The vaccination is not targeting the general public as it was for the COVID-19 vaccination.

"This vaccine is not intended for the general public but for people, who are at high risk, or for health workers," Head of the IDI Monkeypox Task Force Hanny Nilasari stated during a virtual press conference attended by Antara from Jakarta, Friday, August 26, 2022.

Nilasari explained that people who have come in direct contact with individuals confirmed to have contracted monkeypox or exposed to fluids found to contain the virus causing the disease were considered to be at high risk of contracting the disease. Monkeypox vaccination should also be given to people at risk of being infected with the disease, such as those in the same room as the monkeypox patients despite not having come in direct contact with them, Nilasari remarked.

Moreover, vaccination is deemed necessary to protect health workers, who will treat monkeypox patients, she remarked.

She noted that the Monkeypox Task Force was making preparations for the administration of vaccines and antivirals to tackle the transmission of monkeypox.

Earlier, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the entire community would not be administered the monkeypox vaccination as was the protocol followed for COVID-19 vaccination. According to Sadikin, monkeypox vaccination is planned to only be administered to people at high risk of contracting the disease.

"The disease is much more segmented than COVID-19. We will give vaccination to those who may have a greater likelihood of being affected, especially those with low immunity," he remarked while delivering a press statement at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on August 23.

Earlier, on August 20, the Health Ministry announced that a 27-year-old Indonesian male in Jakarta was confirmed to be the country's first monkeypox infection case. The patient had recently traveled abroad and experienced symptoms, such as fever and rashes in some parts of his body. The ministry informed that the patient was conducting self-isolation at home.