BALI, 15 October 2022 – The Australia Indonesia Partnership Program for Health Resilience (AIHSP) through Save the Children Indonesia and the IDEP Selaras Alam Foundation (IDEP) are working with the Annika Linden Center (ALC) to roll out an inclusive COVID-19 vaccination service for people with disabilities disability. The activity, which was held on 15 October 2022 at the Annika Linden Center, Denpasar, is one of a series of commemorations for the 20th anniversary of the Bali Bombing. In addition, this vaccination service that targets persons with disabilities is part of the COVID-19 Vaccination Acceleration Program (VACCINE Project) for three districts in Bali. In general, this program specifically targets vulnerable groups, especially the elderly, persons with disabilities, women, and children.

The Indonesian government has conducted COVID-19 vaccination activities in Indonesia since January 2021. However, after 1.5 years of vaccination, the distribution of vaccine coverage has not been evenly distributed and inclusive in all provinces. Even though the vaccine achievements for the first and second doses were more than 75%, Bali is one of the provinces still having problems meeting the inclusive vaccination target, namely vaccinating vulnerable groups. Not only that, as reported by the Ministry of Health’s dashboard as of 13 October 2022, the vaccine for the third dose (booster) for three districts such as Karangasem, Buleleng, and Jembrana, is still below 50%.

“Organization of vaccinations and delivery of communication, information, and educational materials about COVID-19 must be inclusive so that they can be accessed by all groups, including vulnerable groups in even remote areas. This effort is the shared responsibility of all parties, both local government, development partners, and the community itself,” said John Leigh, AIHSP Program Team Leader.

“This is important to ensure that all people with various backgrounds and different needs, including persons with disabilities, the elderly, women, and other vulnerable groups, can access health services without having to think twice because of the various obstacles they face the field. We are not protected if not everyone is protected,” added John.