I am optimistic that they would always coordinate and consolidate, most importantly about how much quantity of incoming vaccine they are going to receive
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'aruf Amin has reminded all governors to support the COVID-19 mass vaccination program by being heedful to the quantity of incoming vaccine.

"I am optimistic that they would always coordinate and consolidate, most importantly about how much quantity of incoming vaccine they are going to receive," Amin noted in a press release this Thursday.

Amin addressed the matter through a video conference with East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, district heads, and mayors along with the COVID-19 task force from East Java Province.

The East Java government must coordinate with ministries and non-ministerial government agencies to ensure the vaccination program runs smoothly, Amin emphasized.

The vice president is keen that the East Java regional government expedite and boost COVID-19 vaccination, which is targeted to cover 31.8 million people, but in fact, only 8.36 percent of them had received the COVID-19 vaccines.

Mayor of Surabaya Eri Cahyadi reported the vaccination target in his area at 2.2 million people, and as of Wednesday (July 21), some 1.2 million residents were administered the vaccine.

Cahyadi noted that the Surabaya government was awaiting the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine doses and was optimistic of receiving medical assistance from the central government.

Madiun district head Ahmad Dawami also awaited the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine for his people. Until Wednesday (July 21), Madiun had received 148,290 out of the 550,000 targeted doses.

Meanwhile, Khofifah highlighted the need of wider dissemination of information on the vaccine's stocks to all district and city governments. She noted that all regional leaders should be informed regarding the stocks, so that they can distribute them to the public immediately.

During a video conference, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin confirmed he will send 506,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to East Java Province.

"Hopefully, almost one million doses of the vaccine arrived this week to be distributed to all areas of East Java," Sadikin noted.

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Translator: Fransiska N, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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