The Indonesian government is purchasing an additional 1,600 doses of smallpox vaccine, ANTARA quoted Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin as saying on August 27.
He mentioned that of the 1,000 doses of the vaccine previously purchased, only 40 remain.
“We expect another 1,600 vaccine doses to arrive this week.”said Sadikin.
The minister noted that each dose of smallpox vaccine is relatively expensive – around Rs 3.5 crore.
While there have been no major obstacles to purchasing the smallpox vaccine from Denmark, Sadikin acknowledged that its availability is limited due to high demand from several countries and WHO guidelines limiting vaccination to high-risk groups.
“This vaccine is not intended for the general public because smallpox is transmitted 95 percent of the time through sexual contact, similar to HIV.”he explained.
Urging the public to be careful about the disease, he advised against exaggerating the danger. Since 2022, around 88 cases of the disease have been detected in Indonesia and all cases have been cured.
“Because this disease is not widespread, there are no vaccines available in large quantities. As long as recommendations are followed, the public does not need to worry too much.”said Sadikin.
He explained that the 2B strain is spreading in Indonesia, which is much less deadly than the 1B strain found in Africa. The mortality rate for 1B is around 10 percent, while for 2B the rate is only 0.1 percent.
“The 1B strain has not spread beyond Sweden and Thailand, with most cases occurring in Africa since it originated there.”he pointed out.
Source: Rossa Primavera
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.