Doctors in hospital despite getting Chinese jab

Jakarta – More than 350 Indonesian doctors have contracted Covid-19, despite being vaccinated with Sinovac and dozens have been hospitalised, officials said, as concerns rise about the efficacy of some vaccines against more virulent virus strains.

Most of the doctors were asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, said Badai Ismoyo, head of the Kudus district health office in Central Java, but dozens were in hospital with high fevers and declining oxygen levels.

Kudus is battling an outbreak believed to be driven by the more transmissible Delta variant, which has pushed bed occupancy rates above 90%.

Designated as a priority group, Indonesian healthcare workers were among the first to be vaccinated when the inoculation drive started in January.

Almost all have received the vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, according to the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI).

While the number of Indonesian healthcare workers dying from Covid-19 has decreased significantly – dropping from 158 deaths in January to 13 in May, according to data initiative group LaporCovid-19 – public health experts say the hospitalisations are cause for concern.

“The data shows they have the Delta variant [in Kudus] so it is no surprise that the breakthrough infection is higher than before because as we know the majority of healthcare workers in Indonesia got Sinovac, and we still don’t know yet how effective it is in the real world against the Delta variant,” said Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist from Australia’s Griffith University.

A spokesperson from Sinovac and Indonesia’s ministry of health were not available for comment on the efficacy of Sinovac’s CoronaVac against newer coronavirus variants.

Grappling with one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, with more than 1.9 million cases and 53 000 deaths, there has been a heavy toll on Indonesia’s doctors and nurses with 946 deaths.

Many are now experiencing pandemic fatigue and taking an increasingly laissez-faire approach to health protocols after being vaccinated, said Lenny Ekawati from LaporCociv-19.

“That phenomenon happens quite often these days, not only within the community but also healthcare workers,” she said. “They think because they are vaccinated that they are safe.”

But as more cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant are identified, the data is starting to tell a different story.