Rumors circulated that the government would revoke the Covid-19 pandemic status in August 2023. Regarding this news, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) finally spoke up.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Mohammad Syahril emphasized that until now there was no certainty regarding the timing of the revocation of the Covid-19 pandemic status. However, he did not deny that his party also hoped that the pandemic status would end this year.
“Hopefully, not only the Indonesian nation but other nations are also working on the pandemic to be repealed when the parameters are under control,” Syahril said in his statement quoted on Tuesday (21/2/2023).
Furthermore, several parameters must be met by a country to finally get out of pandemic status, including the transmission rate in the community which is below 1 percent, and the positivity rate is below 5 percent.
Then, the rate of treatment of Covid-19 cases in hospitals is below 5 percent, the death rate is below 3 percent, and the attainment of two doses of vaccination is at least 70 percent of the total population.
However, Syahril emphasized that the process of revoking the Covid-19 pandemic status could only be carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the only authorized party.
Therefore, the Indonesian government cannot independently declare its success in getting out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government is only responsible for the revocation of the Covid-19 emergency status which is still valid in Indonesia after the withdrawal of the policy of imposing restrictions on community activities (PPKM).
Previously, Bio Farma Director Honesti Basyir conveyed the discourse on repealing the pandemic. Based on the information it has received, the government has projected that the status of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia will be revoked in August.
This was conveyed by Honesti after he held a working meeting with the Ministry of Health and Commission IX of the Indonesian Parliament, Tuesday (14/2/2023).
According to him, if the discourse is realized, the free Indovac vaccine can only be enjoyed by the general public until August 2023. After that, the public must pay for the vaccine according to the price that will be determined by Bio Farma.
