Hopefully, the public and athletes who participate in the event will be protected from the transmission of COVID-19
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Health Ministry has accelerated COVID-19 vaccinations in cities and districts of Papua province which will host the 20th National Games (PON) from October 2 to October 15, 2021.

"We are currently speeding up vaccinations in cities and districts where PON will be conducted," the ministry's spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination Program, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said in Jakarta on Monday night.

The program is being carried out in Jayapura City and district, Mimika district, and Merauke district as the regions will host 37 sports, 56 disciplines, 679 matches, and 6,442 athletes, she informed.

According to Tarmizi, vaccinations are crucial for these locations to curb the transmission of COVID-19 among the local community as well as tourists.

According to data from the Health Ministry's Vaccine Dashboard app, the confirmed cases of community transmission in Jayapura City have reached 240.60 cases per 100 thousand residents per week. Meanwhile, in Jayapura district, they have reached 208.62 cases per 100 thousand residents per week as of the end of July this year.

In Mimika district and Merauke district, confirmed cases of community transmission have reached 121.37 cases and 23.38 cases per 100 thousand people per week, respectively.

Tarmizi said 14.06 percent of the 362,166 recipients targeted by the vaccination program in Papua have been administered the first vaccine dose. Meanwhile, 6.82 percent, or 176,324, of the 2,583,771 targeted recipients have received the second dose.

The program is targeted to be completed before the PON starts, she said.

"Hopefully, the public and athletes who participate in the event will be protected from the transmission of COVID-19," she added.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Uyu Liman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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