Covid deaths in Jakarta more than three times higher for unvaccinated
JAKARTA : The Covid-19 death rate for people in Jakarta who were not vaccinated was more than three times higher than those who were, according to new Health Ministry data.
The mortality rate of those who were not vaccinated was 15.5 per cent compared with 4.1 per cent for those who had received two shots of either the Sinovac or AstraZeneca vaccine, according to data from state hospitals and almost 68,000 patients in Jakarta from May to last month.
The country has been overwhelmed in recent months by a rapid spike in cases.
Global data on vaccinated versus unvaccinated deaths is not easily available but Dr Ines Atmosukarto, a molecular biologist who works on vaccine development, said the data was further evidence of the importance of vaccination.
"This supports the proposition that two doses of vaccines reduces the chance of dying for those infected and requiring hospitalisation," she said, adding that the data lacked detail about the age, comorbidity and period of observation of the patients.
Separately, data from the town of Banyuwangi on Java island showed that 93 per cent of Covid patients who died from March to last month were not vaccinated, while 6 per cent had received a first dose, and 1 per cent had been fully vaccinated.
Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines were the vaccines predominately administered in that area.
Dr Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a senior Health Ministry official, said the data could help combat vaccine hesitancy in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, 18 per cent of the population have had one dose of a vaccine, while 8 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to Health Ministry data. Indonesia has had 100,600 deaths.
In India, 27.7 per cent of the population have had one dose of a vaccine and 7.8 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to government data and research by Reuters. India has had 425,700 deaths.
Ms Irma Hidayana, a public health expert and co-founder of independent data initiative Lapor Covid-19, said vaccine distribution issues, including infrastructure and data, as well as vaccine hesitancy, had hampered the government's vaccine roll-out. - REUTERS
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