The government is striving to get more vaccines through multilateral and bilateral mechanisms.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - A total of 101,686,980 COVID-19 vaccine doses were distributed to all of Indonesia's 34 provinces, as of Sunday, to meet the public’s vaccine requirements, a Health Ministry’s official stated.

“Of the total 101,686,980 doses, some 74,530,201 doses were used in the 34 provinces," Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination at the Health Ministry Siti Nadia Tarmizi noted on Monday night.

The vaccines comprise Sinovac, CoronaVac, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Sinopharm, Tarmizi noted.

The spokesperson remarked that almost 50 percent of the vaccines were distributed to Java, Bali, and other regions that recorded an uptick in active COVID-19 cases.

Tarmizi expressed optimism that the sufficient stocks of vaccines would contribute to expediting the national vaccination program.

“The government is striving to procure more vaccines through multilateral and bilateral mechanisms,” the spokesperson affirmed.

As of August 6, Indonesia had received 180 million vaccine doses, in semi-finished and finished form. The production of finished vaccines by state-owned pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma is estimated to reach 117 million doses.

Tarmizi has projected Indonesia’s vaccine stocks to reach 82.3 million in August 2021.

“The public should not harbor doubts to get vaccinated in accordance with the vaccination schedules in their respective regions. Do not forget to follow health protocols, so that transmission of the virus can be consistently reduced,” the spokesperson emphasized.

Related news: Banda Aceh receives 4,760 doses of Moderna, 7,500 doses of Sinovac

The Indonesian Health Ministry is developing a strategy to administer 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine scheduled to arrive in Indonesia, from August to December 2021.

"We will be receiving 300 million doses of vaccine starting from August to December," Siti Nadia stated on Friday (August 6).

Nadia pointed out that the quantity of incoming vaccines will bolster mass vaccination activities underway since January 13, 2021.

Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto stated on Sunday that some 23.99 percent of the targeted citizens had received the first dose of vaccine, while 11.3 percent of the targeted population are fully vaccinated.

“The achievement is the result of collaboration between the government, private sector, and the community,” Hartarto, concurrently chairman of the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee (KCP-PEN), stated.

As many as 25,212,024 Indonesians received their second COVID-19 vaccine dose as of Monday (August 9, 2021), according to the COVID-19 Response Task Force.

The number of fully vaccinated Indonesians rose by 434,701 from the day before.

Meanwhile, the number of Indonesians receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine jab increased by 132,375 to reach 50,630,315.

Overall, Indonesia is seeking to vaccinate 208,265,720 citizens to build herd immunity against the coronavirus under the nationwide vaccination drive rolled out on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the nation's first COVID-19 vaccine recipient.

Related news: Mixing vaccines for booster dose acceptable: Health Minister


Translator: Andi Firdaus, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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