"We hope that those who have been vaccinated can be protected from being exposed to COVID-19 and religious activities can run well," the President remarked while reviewing mass vaccination activities at the Great Mosque of Central Java.
"We also hope that other provinces will also encourage and invite ulemas, interfaith leaders, and santri to be vaccinated," he added.
The government intends to intensify the vaccination program in order to achieve herd immunity, he said and explained that this would help immediately check the spread of COVID-19 so the nation can recover and return to normal conditions.
"We hope that every day more and more of our citizens are vaccinated. This will provide herd immunity. We hope that the rate of transmission of COVID-19 can be stopped, we can prevent it," Widodo said.
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During his visit to Central Java, the President was accompanied by Airlangga Hartarto, chairman of the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery, and the Governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo.
Earlier on Wednesday, Widodo witnessed a vaccination drive in Yogyakarta.
The government is organizing COVID-19 vaccination programs with the objective of inoculating 181.5 million people, or 70 percent of the country's population.
Widodo said he is optimistic the national vaccination program will be completed within a year of its launch on January 13, 2021.
According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, the government has administered the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine to 3,337,026 people as of Tuesday (March 9, 2021), while 1,197,772 people have received the second dose.
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Translator: Indra Areif P, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
