President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) observed this vaccination drive for the workers of public transportation and small and medium business sectors operating in the bus terminal area.
They were among the prioritized recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine owing to their daily interactions with travelers departing from and arriving at the bus terminal.
This vaccination program is expected to halt the spread of COVID-19 among bus drivers, bus conductors, as well as SME owners and workers at the terminal.
They would neither transmit the disease nor get infected with the coronavirus, President Jokowi stated.
During his visit to the bus terminal, President Jokowi was accompanied by Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, among others.
As of Wednesday, some 18.7 million Indonesians had received their first shot, while the number of those having received the two-dose vaccine was recorded at 11.4 million.
The COVID-19 outbreak initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and thereafter spread throughout the world, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government announced the nation's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.
The central and regional governments have thereafter striven incessantly to flatten the coronavirus disease curve by applying healthcare protocols and social restrictions.
To break the chain of spread of COVID-19, which had dampened the purchasing power of families throughout Indonesia, the government also banned homebound travel, or "mudik," ahead of this year's Eid al-Fitr holiday season, akin to the protocol followed last year.
Vice Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono projected the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, in the wake of the Eid al-Fitr festivity, to peak in mid-June of 2021.
In halting new transmission clusters, the government is planning to extend the quarantine period for travelers arriving from abroad, particularly from countries hit by the COVID-19 crisis, to 14 days, from the previous five days.
Currently, Indonesia's total count of COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.8 million amid the government's ongoing efforts to win the battle against COVID-19 that has acutely impacted the economy and public health.
As part of its efforts to tackle the pandemic, the Indonesian government has commenced a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections, which surfaced on January 13, 2021.
The Indonesian Health Ministry had pegged the inoculation of some 181.5 million people to take around 15 months.
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Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
