Officials in Karawang, West Java say an investigation is underway to look into whether there is any truth behind a claim that a vaccinator in the regency deliberately faked injecting vaccine recipients, as a viral video taken recently purportedly shows.
The video depicts two separate occasions in which a vaccinator at a community clinic (Puskesmas) pushes the needle into the recipients’ arms, only to pull the syringe out seemingly without having pressed the plunger and administering the vaccine.
The video has stoked some concern online on Indonesian social media, with people now saying that they will keep a watchful eye on their own jabs from now on.
Karawang Regent Cellica Nurrachadiana has carried out an inspection at the Puskesmas, and said that the vaccinator in the video has denied the accusations.
Nevertheless, the regency has ordered the woman in the video to undergo a lab test to determine whether or not she has the vaccine in her system.
“I can’t say who’s wrong and who’s right. We will certainly let law enforcement deal with this. If the vaccinator is wrong, then I will take stern action in the form of issuing administrative sanctions. Conversely, if the woman is wrong, she would be at fault for spreading misinformation and there are legal consequences for that,” Cellica wrote in a statement today.
While Indonesians generally have nothing but respect for healthcare workers amid the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, some bad apples have tarnished the reputation of the profession, such as Puskesmas staff in Bogor regency who shut their clinic early for karaoke.
Reader Interactions