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The
March study of 2,100 people, conducted on Java, home to 150
million people, and Bali, Indonesia's top tourism destination,
revealed 99.2% of people had COVID antibodies, a 6 percentage
point increase from a December survey.
Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia,
which conducted the survey with the health ministry, on Monday
told Reuters the antibody levels in the latest survey were
higher due to a wider booster shot rollout, as recipients had
stronger protection.
Indonesia's daily case numbers have decreased significantly
since a spike in February driven by the Omicron variant. About
60% of its 270 million people have been vaccinated against COVID.
Pandu said the stronger antibodies may explain the faster rate
at which Omicron variant infections declined in Indonesia.
The December study, of 22,000 people, was conducted nationwide
and showed 86% of Indonesians had antibodies.
The world's largest Muslim-majority nation has recently loosened
many of its pandemic restrictions, including waiving quarantine
for foreign tourists and lifting a two-year ban on the mass
exodus tradition during the Muslim holiday season of Eid al-Fitr.
Health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin on Monday said the survey
was a factor in the government's assessment that the holiday
"can go smoothly without bringing negative impacts on our
people".
The study closely tracks recent data in Britain, where the
percentage of adults with COVID antibodies in the middle of
March was nearly 99% according to its Office for National
Statistics.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Miyoung Kim and
Martin Petty)
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