UNS — The Covid-19 pandemic that has occurred for more than a year has claimed the lives of thousands of people. The rapid replication process of the new Coronavirus has left hospitals full, and many positive patients went to self-isolate. Various efforts have been promoted to slow down the spread of the new virus, including vaccination that continues to be accelerated.
In Indonesia, even though the vaccination program was promoted as early as the end of 2020, the implementation of such program only started in early 2021, with the first dose injected to the current president, Joko Widodo. The program then moved forward with the vaccination of healthcare workers, the elderly, and people in public services. By July 2021, the program is offered to people in general. Participating in ending the pandemic, Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta provided a free vaccination program for its students, teachers, and staff with support from the Army, Police, and many other parties.
uns.ac.id team has an opportunity to chat with two UNS young vaccinators, Fathu Thaariq Baihaqy and Latief Jaya Subrata; both are young physicians from the Faculty of Medical Science UNS. Thaariq, Latief, and other 130 people took a noble role as UNS vaccination team since the end of June 2021.
The vaccination program that was held in each faculty due to the daily limitation received high enthusiasm from students. “They are very enthusiastic and ask us to speed up. As long as we have the batch, and there is no contraindication, we will serve them,” the young doctor from Pacitan, East Java explained. Further, Thaariq explained that vaccination is vital to protect people from the new Coronavirus because vaccinated people have a better immune system than unvaccinated people. The vaccination program is expected to reduce the possibility of getting infected with severe strains of the virus, which will reduce the pressure on the healthcare system because they do not need to be hospitalized. Vaccination becomes a pressing matter for Indonesia which is currently facing a shortage of hospital services.
However, despite knowing the importance of vaccination, some people choose to postpone their vaccination to get the vaccine they prefer. Some people also prefer to wait for Indonesian-made vaccines and are reluctant to get the existing vaccines. Responding to this condition, Latief suggested that people get vaccinated without vaccine preferences. He explained that it is more important to get everyone vaccinated first. “After getting the first two doses, the condition gets better, and want to get additional protection; it’s up to you if you want to get your preferred vaccines. If you want to choose whichever vaccines, it’s up to you, but if now you are still picky and postpone, that means you don’t want to be protected because vaccines are to protect them,” he explained.
Regarding the different levels of efficacy from each vaccine, Latief suggested people to get vaccinated because even if the efficacy level is low, it still protects people from severe symptoms. He also added that the effectiveness of each vaccine is still under observation considering Covid-19 is only a year since its first outbreak in Indonesia. “Each vaccine has different efficacy, but we need to pay attention that no matter how low the efficacy, it is still better than not vaccinated at all,” the physician from Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta, stated.
Take A Role, No Matter How Small
Taking the role of vaccinator in the UNS Covid-19 Task Force team takes time, energy, and thoughts from Thaariq and Latief. The vaccination preparation is often completed at 1 am, and they need to get ready at the vaccination site by 6 am. However, they are grateful to be involved in this noble task.
“If we could do this, then we will do. What we could do, we do. Even if it is not 100%, we shouldn’t leave all of it; try to do what we can,” Thaariq said.
Latief shared that his spirit increased after he saw people’s enthusiasm to get vaccinated. He stated that every person has a different role in ending the pandemic, and his spirit increased because his current role is in line with his future oath as a doctor. “Moreover, I have a vaccinator team that is very enthusiastic about making this program successful. I also saw that all parties help each other to end this pandemic; I am more motivated,” Latief said.
Both vaccinators think that it is not only the doctor’s role to solve the pandemic. Society and university students could also take their role in ending the pandemic. Lastly, Thaariq emphasized that everyone has a role in the pandemic, no matter how small. He invited people to take their roles. “Maybe the pandemic will end, but in the process, we need to decide what our role is. No matter how small the role we took, we could help people around us,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Ida Fitriyah
Editor: Dwi Hastuti