France stands with Indonesia in continuing its fight against COVID-19
Jakarta (ANTARA) - As many as 358,700 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Indonesia from France on Friday as a form of support from the French nation for handling COVID-19 in Indonesia.

In a written statement, the French Embassy in Jakarta noted that the first shipment was part of the total of three million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to be donated to Indonesia through the COVAX mechanism.

"France stands with Indonesia in continuing its fight against COVID-19," the French Embassy noted in a statement.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron had reminded that developed countries must effectively and proactively partake in efforts to contain the pandemic. In February, President Macron called on his partners from the G7, G20, and the European Union to share some of the vaccine doses received with the 92 low- and middle-income countries that are part of the COVAX AMC.

A year ago, the COVAX facility was established with the support of France to ensure equitable access to vaccines against COVID-19 for global good of the public. Under the COVAX facility, 137 countries worldwide have received over 156 million doses of the vaccine until now.

Amid the pandemic, the Indonesian government has been cooperating with several countries in securing vaccine supplies. Recently, on Wednesday, Indonesia received 500 thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Australian government under a bilateral vaccine-sharing mechanism as part of the 51st batch of vaccine shipments.

In a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19, the Indonesian government has commenced a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. According to the Health Ministry, the country is currently targeting to increase the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations to 2.5 million per day in September this year.

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Translator: Yashinta Difa, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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