Kamtono noted that limited vaccine stocks were posing hurdles to achieving the target in his area.
"Vaccine delivery from the central government is expected to run smoothly, so that we can vaccinate more people," he remarked.
Data from the Pontianak Health Service indicated that 154,295 people in Pontianak had received the first dose of vaccine, while 91,113 people had been fully vaccinated.
The vast difference in the number of the first and the second vaccine dose recipients was since some of the first dose recipients had yet to complete the requisite waiting period in order to be eligible to take the second dose of vaccination. The availability of vaccines from the central government also posed a constraint.
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Kamtono did acknowledge the fact that the availability of vaccines depended on the import of vaccine materials.
However, he is optimistic that in future, sufficient vaccines would be available in line with the increasing number of vaccines produced by vaccine manufacturers.
"Thus, the need for vaccine stocks in our area would be met, and vaccination numbers would increase," he stated.
Kamtono also lauded the involvement of student organizations in Pontianak, including the local Indonesian Catholic Student Association (PMKRI), which held mass vaccinations to help the government expand vaccination coverage.
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PMKRI Pontianak took the initiative to administer the second dose of vaccination to 400 local residents.
"On behalf of the Pontianak government, I would like to thank and laud the efforts of Pontianak PMKRI by conducting mass vaccination for residents," he emphasized.
Chairman of the PMKRI Pontianak Albertus Trio Kusuma affirmed that the mass vaccination was a continuation of the first dose of vaccination administered at the same place recently.
"Our target for this second dose of vaccination is 400 people as the figure of the first dose of vaccination held previously," he informed.
Kusuma is optimistic that the transmission of COVID-19 would be immediately thwarted, with more people getting vaccinated to build herd immunity.
His organization conducted mass vaccination by implementing stringent health protocols to avoid crowding of residents.
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Translator: Andilala, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
