People wearing protective face masks enjoy a stroll along a skywalk bridge as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Feb 7, 2022.JAKARTA - Almost all residents of Indonesia's most populous island of Java have antibodies against Covid-19, owing to a combination of prior infection and vaccination against the virus, a government-commissioned survey showed.
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. Pandu said the stronger antibodies may explain the faster rate at which Omicron variant infections declined in Indonesia.
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.