The two ships would be optimized to provide health services and vaccinations to residents living on islands, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa said here on Saturday.
"The East Java administration has two ships, which we want to utilize to provide health services for residents living on islands," she stated.
One of the ships belongs to the East Java Provincial Government and will be manned by medical personnel provided by Brawijaya University, Malang, she revealed. Meanwhile, the second ship will be operated by the Airlangga University in Surabaya.
According to the governor, the two ships will provide health services to people residing on islands and getting difficulty in reaching land.
Meanwhile, Brawijaya Univresity Rector Prof. Nuhfil Hanani said that the university is ready to operate the ship to help provide health services and expedite vaccinations among coastal communities.
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"The ship is provided to reach small islands which cannot be reached by land (vehicles). We are ready to carry out our mission," he said.
Meanwhile, Director of the Brawijaya General Hospital (RSUB) Sri Andarini said that the hospital will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the East Java Provincial Government concerning the operation of the ship.
The hospital will also coordinate with the university's medical school and faculty of political and social sciences related to availability of personnel, she added.
Based on data from the Communication and Informatics Office of East Java, the province is targeting to vaccinate 31,826,206 residents. Currently, 12,524,657 residents have received the first dose of the vaccine and 6,666,910 have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
East Java has so far logged 392,615 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 359,520 recoveries, and 29,210 deaths, and the remaining patients are still undergoing treatment.
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Translator: Vicki Febrianto, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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