Enthusiasm is running high among the residents of Kupang city, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) to get their COVID jabs, but crowded vaccination centers paired with improper implementation of health protocols are adding concerns that they may contribute to rising transmissions of the coronavirus.
In fact, Kupang Deputy Mayor Hermanus Man claims that the caseload spike in the city can be attributed to the mass vaccination programs.
“The rise of COVID-19 cases in Kupang City is a result of the crowds formed when the public participated in vaccination. The case spike in Kupang is very high,” Hermanus said yesterday, after witnessing the queues at a local community clinic (Puskesmas).
On Tuesday, Kupang city reported 132 new COVID-19 cases, data from the city government shows.
The Association of General Practitioners in Indonesia (PBUI) has also pointed out the lack of crowd control in the vaccination rollout in Kupang.
“Right now many Kupang residents are going to the mass vaccination [program] without observing health protocols. This is a pity,” Teda Litik, who heads PBUI in Kupang, said.
Interest in COVID jabs continued well into this week, where some Kupang residents queued since 4am on Monday to get their vaccine shots.
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Thousands of people have been showing up at the NTT High Court building, which serves as one of the vaccination venues in Kupang. Though an official previously claimed then that they have followed proper health protocols, it hasn’t stopped people from crowding the area.
Over 117,000 people in the city have so far received their first dose of the COVID vaccines, accounting for around 3 percent of the provincial target, according to data issued by the Health Ministry.
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