Jakarta (ANTARA) - At least 114 staffers at the Indonesian Vice Presidential secretariat received their first Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine shot even as President Joko Widodo got his second vaccine dose on Wednesday.

The injections for staffers, including members of the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) stationed at the Vice Presidential secretariat, were administered by the Jakarta provincial government's health workers.

"The vaccination program is joined by the staffers, aged under 60, including those who serve and safeguard Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and his wife," Vice Presidential spokesperson Masduki Baidlowi informed.

The 114 staffers will get their second vaccine shot on February 10, 2021, he said, adding that Vice President Ma'ruf Amin did not join the vaccination program on account of his age. He is 77.

“Mr. Vice President will be administered a COVID-19 vaccine that the Presidential medical team recommends," Baidlowi said.

The Indonesian government commenced its national vaccination program with China's Sinovac vaccine on January 13, 2021 amid a spike in confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country.

President Joko Widodo, Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander, Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, and several public figures, including television personality Raffi Ahmad, received the country's first COVID-19 jabs.

According to the Indonesian Health Ministry, between January 14 and January 25, 2021, about 161,959 thousand medical workers in 34 provinces were vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Health Ministry disclosed earlier that it would take 15 months to vaccinate about 181.5 million people under the national COVID-19 vaccination program.

"We need 15 months to accomplish it. The time-frame for conducting the vaccination is counted from January, 2021 to March, 2022," Health Ministry's spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination Program, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, remarked.

During the period, the government is targeting to inoculate about 181.5 million people, including 1.3 million paramedics and 17.4 million public sector workers, in 34 provinces, Tarmizi stated.

Tarmizi noted that the first phase of the government's immunization program will be further divided into two stages: January-April, 2021 and April, 2021-March, 2022. (INE)

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