Malang, (malangkota.go.id) – The National Institute of Technology (ITN) Malang has carried out Covid-19 vaccinations for lecturers and staff. The first stage of vaccination was carried out for two days, namely on May 25-27, 2021 at the UMM Medical Center, Sumbersari, Malang City, Thursday (28/5/2021).
The Covid-19 vaccination has been awaited by the ITN academic community since it was first rolled out by the government. This is evident from the enthusiasm of lecturers and staff, starting from the registration process in March 2021 until being vaccinated. Even the leadership of the institution on the first day accompanied, as well as carrying out vaccinations with lecturers and staff.
Vice Rector I for Academic Affairs of ITN Malang, Dr. F. Yudi Limpraptono, ST., MT explained that vaccination is an effort to minimize the spread of Covid-19. "I salute the ITN lecturers and staff enthusiastically coming and queuing to get vaccinated. They also appear to continue to comply with health protocols. No need to be afraid, I have also been vaccinated today. The process is fast, it doesn't hurt," he said.
With the vaccination of the ITN Malang academic community, Yudi is optimistic that in September everyone will be ready to welcome new student admissions. "August is the schedule for the second vaccination. So next September, if permitted by the government, hopefully lectures will be offline. If it is not permitted, or there are still objections (offline), then we will implement hybrid learning," he explained.
Meanwhile, Head of Personnel Section (Kabag) of ITN Malang, Nuning Irawati, A.Md said, ITN Malang submitted a vaccine for academicians to the Malang City Health Office (Dinkes). A total of 260 lecturers and staff registered through the institution will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine with batch number (production batch) CTMAV546.
"ITN received the AstraZeneca CTMAV546 vaccine. Yesterday I consulted a doctor regarding the AstraZeneca code 546. This vaccine code is safe to use, so ITN lecturers and staff need not hesitate. This (vaccination) is a government program, everyone must be vaccinated to protect themselves from Covid-19," he said.
According to Nuning, the number of those who participated in the vaccination was not all of the lecturers and staff. The reason is, some of the ITN Malang academic community had already received vaccinations before the institution's vaccination schedule. They received the vaccine from their partner's workplace. There are also other reasons such as having underlying diseases and still being afraid of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
"We cannot force those who are still afraid of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In fact, the cases that have occurred recently are the AstraZeneca type code 547, and it has been withdrawn by the government. However, most of those who did not participate in vaccination through institutions, because they had already received it elsewhere," he explained. (say/ram)
