"Alhamdulillah (Thanks Allah), we can get vaccine doses for 181.5 million Indonesians. Because one person needs two doses, 360 million more doses have been obtained," he said while monitoring a COVID-19 vaccination program for hundreds of prominent Islamic figures (kiai) at the East Java Regional Office of Nahdlatul Ulama (PWNU) here on Tuesday.
At least 70 percent of the world's 7.8 billion people are expected to be vaccinated to develop herd immunity against the virus, meaning that some 5.5 billion doses, or about 11 billion doses in total, are needed quickly, according to the minister.
Indonesia has obtained four vaccines — manufactured by Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Pfizer — and has set the target of completing the nation-wide vaccination program within 12 months, starting January this year.
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"Vaccine production capacity in the world is around 3-4 billion. So, when you get it, you can't choose, because the term is being fought over by the whole world," Sadikin remarked.
During Tuesday’s vaccination campaign, Sadikin witnessed the second dose of the Sinovac vaccine being administered to KH Anwar Mansur, KH Agoes Ali Masyhuri, KH Anwar Iskandar, and KH Abdul Matin. While, KH Muhammad Muslih, KH Jazuli Soleh Chosim, KH Ainul Mubarrok, KH Lukmanul Hakim, and hundreds of other kiais were administered the first dose of the vaccine.
"With the PWNU East Java kiai willing to be vaccinated, it is hoped that it can raise people's confidence in using this vaccine, which is guaranteed to be safe," he said.
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Translator: Fiqih A, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
