Alhamdulillah (Thank God), the third dose of vaccination can already be given to healthcare workers. Hopefully, it can be completed in the next one to two weeksTangerang, Banten (ANTARA) - Tangerang City, Banten has begun administering Moderna' vaccine as the third or booster dose to healthcare workers and plans to cover 10,238 health workers under the program.
"Alhamdulillah (Thank God), the third dose of vaccination can already be given to healthcare workers. Hopefully, it can be completed in the next one to two weeks," Tangerang Mayor Arief R Wismansyah said after observing the vaccination for healthcare workers at the Tangerang City Health Office, here on Saturday.
The third dose is being provided to health workers to increase vaccine efficacy and prevent COVID-19 transmission among them as they are serving at the frontlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
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"Hopefully, this booster vaccine can reduce the risk of exposure to health workers who provide services to the residents," he remarked.
The city administration has received a total of 841 vials of the Moderna vaccine to administer the booster doses, the mayor informed adding, each vial can be used for about 13-14 people.
As of August 5, 2021, the number of residents who had been fully vaccinated or had received two vaccine doses in the city had reached 326,454, barring 13,477 health personnel and 128,753 public service officers, spokesperson for the Tangerang City government, Buceu Gartin, said.
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As many as 51,993 older adults, 114,754 vulnerable people and members of the general public, 1,199 teenagers, and 16,278 people had received vaccines under the Gotong Royong vaccination program, he informed. Meanwhile, 643,925 people had obtained their first vaccine dose, he added.
Earlier, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had assured that fully vaccinated health workers in the country would be offered a third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to boost their immune response.
The Health Ministry has issued the Director-General of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control’s Circular Letter HK.02.01/1/1919/2021 on the third vaccine dose for health workers, assistant health workers, and support workers at health service facilities.
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Translator: Achmad Irfan, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
