JAKARTA, Apr 19 (NNN-ANTARA) – Almost the entire Indonesian population has COVID-19 antibodies, obtaining from vaccinations or infections, or both, Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said yesterday.
A serological survey, conducted by the Ministry of Health and the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Public Health, concluded that, 99.2 percent of Indonesia’s population has COVID-19 antibodies, higher than the figure of 88.6 percent released in a survey last Dec.
“So if there is a virus attack, the antibodies would quickly deal with it and reduce risks of hospitalisation and death,” Sadikin told a press conference.
The survey was held, ahead of the massive exodus of urban people returning to their hometowns to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with families, locally known as “mudik.”
As many as 79.4 million people would go “mudik” from big cities to their hometowns, according to a recent survey, conducted by the Ministry of Transportation.
In Indonesia, 162,879,095 people have received both COVID-19 vaccine shots by yesterday, and 31,348,872 people have received the third dose.– NNN-ANTARA
