Bali Province’s Department of Animal Husbandry (Dinas Peternakan) is planning a mass vaccination for later this month, for areas especially designated as rabies “red zones”.
Vaccinations are to be administered on April 18 across 724 villages, 280 of which are apparently in the red zones.
Bali Dinas Peternakan head Dr. Nata Kesuma says 560,000 doses of rabies vaccines for dogs have been prepared.
“The dog population is as much as 411,153, so we think it’s enough to give the rabies vaccine to the entire Bali canine population,” Kesuma told Tribun Bali on Tuesday.
But even though the doses seem to be more than enough, realistically, Kesuma says he hopes they can reach 80 percent of Bali’s anjing population during this mass vaccination event.
They’ve got all the technical preparations taken care of, but Kesuma says it’s the non-technical factors that his team is worried about.
From personal experience, people are often apathetic towards vaccinations, Kesuma said.
