The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed to donating more than 90 million vaccine doses to help achieve Indonesia’s vaccination target. To increase the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination, USAID trained over 6.900 health workers, to help vaccinate over 2.9 million people residing in Indonesia, and thousands of mobile and temporary vaccine sites.

To boost this outstanding achievement of COVID-19 vaccination coverage, USAID collaborated with The Ministry of Health’s Directorate of Health Promotion and Community Empowerment (Promkes) through the Breakthrough ACTION for COVID-19 project and launched the Community Engagement toolkits, in the “National Dissemination of an Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) Vaccination Toolkit for the Elderly and General Population” online event, on 19 April 2022. The event was attended by representatives of 34 provincial health offices, Promkes national partners, and USAID implementing partners, with more than 190 attendees.

The dissemination of the Community Engagement kits consists of a Flip Chart, a Cue Card, and a Campaign Guidebook for Elderly Vaccination. It serves as a reliable, easy-access reference for health officials, social workers, and volunteers working to increase uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations. The aim is to disseminate the kits to all 34 provinces in Indonesia. All users can access and use the Community Engagement kits by downloading the materials, through The Ministry of Health official website.

Dr. Maria Endang Sumiwi, The Director General of Public Health, opened the event and Dr. Imran Agus Nurali, the Director of Health Promotion and Community Empowerment read the remarks on her behalf. The Director General emphasized, despite the high number of people being vaccinated nationally, there are still a significant number of people who aren’t yet vaccinated, specifically the elderly. 

David Stanton, the Deputy Director of USAID Health Office said in his opening remarks, “Tidak ada seorang pun yang aman sampai semua orang aman.” (No one is safe until everyone is safe), emphasizing that international support and partnerships are vital in tackling the virus, and USAID remains committed to working with the government of Indonesia to accelerate widespread, equitable access and delivery of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccinations in Indonesia.

With the Community Engagement kits being disseminated to provinces and districts, they will help health providers, community volunteers and others working at community level to provide correct information and motivation for people to overcome barriers they face when making decisions around vaccination and getting vaccinated. With the full support of the USAID, the Government of Indonesia’s Ministry of Health will work to cover the remaining unvaccinated and provide relevant solutions and move forward collectively to end this pandemic crisis.