key: cord-0071160-4uf6lj50 authors: Triwardani, Reny title: Indonesian officials and media fight vaccine hesitancy, misinformation date: 2021-09-28 journal: nan DOI: 10.1111/aspp.12608 sha: 89e59c81cb60ac78631a89c31af7caa3390f731b doc_id: 71160 cord_uid: 4uf6lj50 nan physically and mentally, to have a place to live, and to have a good and healthy living environment and the right to obtain health services." The government planned mass vaccinations will take place within 15 months, from January 2021 to March 2022. In this case, the government carries out its obligation to ensure the fulfillment of the right to health for all Indonesian people. Amid a significant increase in positive cases of COVID-19, which has reached 1,769,940 cases on May 22, 2021 (Tim Komunikasi Komite Penanganan Corona Virus Disease 2019 dan Pemulihan Ekonomi Nasional, 2021), vaccination was Indonesia's way to keep the number from growing. Unfortunately, the vaccination effort is constrained by doubts and rejections from some people. To find out people's perceptions about the COVID-19 vaccine, the Ministry of Health, and the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), with the support of UNICEF and WHO, has conducted a national survey on the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. The survey, which took place on September 19-30, 2020, collected responses from more than 115,000 people from 34 provinces covering 508 districts/cities. The survey results showed that around 74% of respondents claimed to know a little about the government's plan to carry out the COVID-19 vaccination nationwide. Around 65% of respondents said they were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is provided by the government, while 8% refused. The remaining 27% expressed doubts about the government's plan to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the level of acceptance varies by province, based on economic status, religious beliefs, educational status, and region. The group that refused the vaccine stated that the vaccine's safety, effectiveness, and halal factors were their considerations (Kementerian et al., 2020) . Although the community relatively accepts the COVID-19 vaccine at the national level, there are still provinces such as West Sumatra with a relatively high vaccine rejection rate (Sakti, 2021) . In terms of politics, there are indications that vaccination resistance was expressed more by those who, from the start, chose different political attitudes and choices in the Jokowi administration (Indikator, 2021) . It is also known that some vaccine rejections are influenced by beliefs that call vaccines are haram, are part of a conspiracy. (Dzulfaroh, 2021) . The push for vaccination came from Widodo himself, who stipulates that since vaccines could be given free, all government agencies and departments should prioritize the vaccination program in their 2021 budget. The president's instruction has started a discussion and opinions over social media; but some of the comments cast doubts over the safety of the vaccines Twitter, for instance, contain tweets about red and white vaccines, the halal certification of vaccines, vaccines' efficacy, and the price of vaccines, among other topics (Rachman & Pramana, 2020) . Generally, discussions on social media tended to promote vaccination programs, as evidenced by the popularity of hashtags supporting the vaccination program, such as #vaksinasidimulai, #vaksinhalal (Kurniawan & Sutan, 2021) . Meanwhile, government media outlets such as the official website of the COVID-19 Task Force, https://covid19.go.id/vaksin-covid19 and the presidential website https://www. presidenri.go.id/?s=vaksinasi%26kanal=berita%26tanggal= reported on the efforts of the president and also allowed him to speak directly to the public about the national vaccination program (Figures 1 and 2) . President Widodo's exemplary role as the first recipient of this vaccine demonstrates his government support for the science of vaccines as key to controlling a pandemic. It is also a way of persuading those having second thoughts to get themselves vaccinated. Indonesian media are generally supportive of the government's COVID-19 program. However, two news sites with a high level of popularity in Indonesia, namely Detik and Kompas, are seen to have prioritized negative news, although their presentations are different. Detik tended to present news about the COVID-19 pandemic with negative information, while Kompas presents the most news that can cause anxiety among other Covid-19 news themes (Setiawan et al., 2020) . Some hoaxes about the COVID-19 vaccine were also included in the news reports, among them on the composition of the COVID-19 vaccine, postvaccination side effects, and the refusal of the IDI to join the vaccination program (Rahayu & Sensusiyati, 2021) . Due to the rampant hoax news about COVID-19, the https://covid19.go.id/site also provides features that help the public avoid disinformation https://covid19.go.id/p/hoax-buster. Even access to hoax checking is available through the WhatsApp application (see Figure 3 ). The information drive to deal with vaccine hesitancy and misformation will continue as the speed and magnitude of the number of hoaxes are still unstoppable. President Widodo said that pandemic control, primarily through vaccination, is a game-changer (Setpres, 2021) . However, improving public communication is crucial in responding to the resistance of community groups to the national vaccination campaign. F I G U R E 1 The first dose of vaccination to President Joko Widodo. Source: https://www.presidenri.go.id/ foto/presiden-ri-menerima-vaksin-covid-19-perdana/ F I G U R E 2 The second dose to President Joko Widodo. Source: https://www.presidenri.go.id/foto/presidenri-terima-suntikan-dosis-kedua-vaksin-covid-19/ Data Vaksinasi Covid19 Gugus Tugas Luncurkan Covid19 Survei Sebut 41 Persen Masyarakat Tidak Bersedia Divaksin Perlukah Sanksi Bagi Orang Yang Menolak Divaksin Covid-19? Parliamentary Review Siapa Enggan Divaksin? Tantangan Dan Problem Vaksinasi Covid-19 Di Indonesia Penggunaan Sosial Media Dalam Menyebarkan Program Vaksinasi Covid-19 Di Indonesia Analisis Sentimen Pro Dan Kontra Masyarakat Indonesia Tentang Vaksin COVID-19 Pada Media Sosial Twitter 3 The display of the hoax buster feature Vaksin Covid-19 Di Indonesia: Analisis Berita Hoax. Intelektiva: Jurnal Ekonomi, Sosial & Humaniora Presiden: Vaksinasi Adalah 'Game Changer' Dalam Pengendalian Pandemi Covid-19) dan Pemulihan Ekonomi Nasional Nasional Veteran Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Email: reny.triwardani@gmail.com