Tzu Chi Medical team strives to subdue the Pandemic

Journalist : Anand Yahya, Photographer : Anand Yahya

The doctor inoculates the first dose of covid-19 vaccination to one of the residents registered at Sekolah Cinta Kasih (SCK) Tzu Chi Cengkareng, located in West Jakarta.

The Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation, Indonesia organized the Covid-19 Vaccination Centre together with the medical clinic of Sekolah Cinta Kasih (SCK) Tzu Chi Cengkareng, located in North Jakarta. All the participants, aged 18 years and above were permitted to register, regardless of their residential area. The program lasted for 4 days which started from 27–30 June 2021, aimed to accelerate the covid-19 vaccination program as proposed by the government. One of the main reasons of their initiative is reaching a target of one million vaccines per day to create herd immunity amongst the people in the community.

According to the data collected by the secretary of the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation, dated 27-30 June 2021, there were 2,220 people vaccinated per day during the first phase. It was mainly due to the effort initiated by the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation, Indonesia which supported the government program to achieve a target of 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines per day,

One of the team members of the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation lists the patient’s name who are registered for the vaccine on their respective vaccination cards.

According to one of the circulars number HK.02.02/I/1669/2021 released by the Ministry of Health in Indonesia states to expedite the speedy Covid-19 Vaccination. This was carried out through various vaccination service centers and to optimize the technical execution in line with the Ministry of Health in Indonesia.

The circular stated that the acceleration of Covid-19 vaccination can be carried out through vaccination service centers and in collaboration with the TNI, Polri, Public Organizations, technical sections in line with the Ministry of Health, such as Medical Centre at the Port, Vertical Hospital, Health Polytechnic and Public Health. With reference to the circular mentioned above, Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation Indonesia initiated their support in setting up a Covid-19 Vaccination Center at Sekolah Cinta Kasih Tzu Chi Cengkareng, located in North Jakarta.

One of the recipients of the vaccine, Lena, 24 years of age who resides in Cengkareng, got her first dose of vaccination. Although, it was her the intention to have the vaccination much earlier but she could not understand on how to actuate the process. Lena works as a waitress in a restaurant at Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta. She was pleased to get the information of the vaccination program provided by the management of Tzu Chi Centre.

The participants followed strict health protocols to avoid overcrowding by waiting in queue outside the classrooms at Sekolah Cinta Kasih.

"Initially I had registered at Tzu Chi, PIK, but unfortunately I missed it as yesterday was the last day. Then I asked one of the staff at Tzu Chi Center, who directed me to enquire at Sekolah Cinta Kasih, Cengkareng.” said Lena, feeling excited after her first dose of vaccination.

Lena also mentioned that the management at her workplace encourages all employees to be vaccinated. “In my workplace, the vaccination is mandatory for everyone to stay safe, as we are mostly exposed to different people” explained Lena. It is essential for Lena and her colleagues to be vaccinated, especially in workplaces like restaurants or eatery places. The employees and customers will then feel more secured in meeting people.

Following the safety health protocols, five participants are asked to enter the classroom at a certain time to get their dose of vaccination.

In Addition to Lena is Fandi, 34 years who also agrees that it is important for everyone to be vaccinated, especially for those who meet people in their workplace.

"By God’s grace, we feel more secure and calm after the vaccination" said Fandi. Yanto also agrees that it is compulsory for everyone to be vaccinated, especially where there is a crowd of people gathering to prevent the spread of Covid-19 virus.

“At my workplace, we get to meet different people every day. However, when we are already vaccinated, there is a lesser chance for the virus to spread,” said Yanto.

Managing patients with Covid-19 at Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih

The head of the Covid-19 medical team at Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih, Tzu Chi Cengkareng, Dr. Adrianus Kanasis, Sp.Em mentioned that there are more people who are infected due to the spread of covid-19 virus. He reveals that there are patients with moderate or severe symptoms who are required to be diagnosed at the hospital.

"As the condition worsen, there are quite a number of patients infected by Covid-19. Due to limited number of rooms at the hospital, we have no choice but to allow patients to stay in the emergency room, which has been transformed to a normal room to accommodate all patients," said Dr. Adrianus.

Early in the morning, people are anxiously waiting to receive the vaccination which was held by the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Indonesia.

Dr. Adrianus revealed that many patients who came to Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih suffers from low oxygen saturation, even some below 90% due to the infection of Covid-19. As the number of the medical staff is limited, it becomes difficult to monitor the patient's condition regularly.

"This has become one of the obstacles faced by the medical team as many of the staff are getting infected due to the exposure with the patients and there is a need for self-isolation. One of the challenges we face is the shortage of the medical team to monitor the patients,” said Dr Adrianus.

However, the covid-19 medical team of Rumah Sakit Tzu Chi, led by Dr. Adrianus provides his best service to treat Covid patients who have severe symptoms and those who requires ventilator to aid their breathing difficulties. Patients with severe symptoms are advised to get their treatment at Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih Tzu Chi because the hospital is unable to give reference letter to other hospitals equipped with special ICU unit treatment for Covid-19 patients.

Dr Adrianus Kanasis, Sp.Em, Head of the Covid-19 Medical Team is on duty at the Dormitory Building at Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih, Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

Currently, there are 10 Covid-19 patients being treated in the Dormitory Building, 2 of which are isolation units for children, an emergency room which was converted into a treatment room with 11 beds, having a total of 23 beds. On the other hand, the medical team at Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih must also monitor patients, who are employees and staff undergoing independent isolation.

Due to the current conditions at Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih, the medical team is quite overwhelmed to treat patients. However, the medical team tries their outmost best to provide the professional service and treatment for patients treated at the hospital.

Dr Adrianus hopes that the public will comply with the policies issued by the government. The implementation of the Emergency Community Activity Restriction (PPKM) indicates that the current situation is very concerning. Moreover, the majority of hospitals are currently overcapacity and the number of medical assistances has become limited due to the exposure of Covid-19 patients and cause them to be fatigue at work.

One of the residents undergoes a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test at the Dormitory Building of Rumah Sakit Cinta Kasih, Cengkareng. Since May to June 2021, the hospital conducted swab antigen and PCR tests for other people.

"I hope that with the government implementing Emergency PPKM, the public should be aware that this situation is very serious. The past months in June and July 2021 have become more devastating in comparison with the pandemic last year in 2020. There was a drastic increase of cases in January and February this year with addition of the new variant of Covid Delta virus, "said Adrianus.

One prevention that can be done is to expedite the process of Covid-19 vaccination as carried out by the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation, Indonesia which was organized at Sekolah Cinta Kasih, Cengkareng located in West Jakarta and Tzu Chi Center, Pantai Indah Kapuk, located in North Jakarta.

Translator: Mely Kartono (TC School)