“The Moderna vaccine will be given to the general public starting Thursday (September 23, 2021), and the public's interest seems to be very high. Moments after the registration was opened, the quota that had been prepared was immediately exhausted," head of the Yogyakarta COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Heroe Poerwadi, said in Yogyakarta on Monday.
The registration for the Moderna vaccinations has been opened online through the Jogja Smart Service (JSS) application, he said.
The vaccination is not only intended for residents who have a Yogyakarta City ID card but also for those with a national ID card, he added.
"The requirement is that you are 18 years and over," he said.
For the first stage, Moderna vaccines will be allocated for 12 thousand residents in Yogyakarta city, he informed. Thus 24 thousand doses of the vaccine will need to be prepared because the Moderna vaccine needs to be administered twice, he said.
Currently, Yogyakarta City has 28 thousand doses of the Moderna vaccine in stock, Poerwadi informed.
Related news: 114,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses available in Yogyakarta: Mayor
“The booster vaccination for health workers with the Moderna vaccine is still being carried out. Of the 12 thousand health workers, 3 thousand have received a booster. Because it is being prioritized for health workers who are in direct contact with COVID-19 patients," he said.
The Moderna vaccine will only be administered to the general public for one day on Thursday because health workers at the vaccination center still have to focus on completing the second dose of vaccination for students starting Friday (September 24, 2021), Poerwadi said.
“The second dose of vaccinations for students is targeted to be completed in early October (2021). So, it (vaccinations for the general public) will be reopened after the student vaccinations are completed," he added.
To date, more than 540 thousand residents have received the COVID-19 vaccination in Yogyakarta city, he said. However, not all are residents of Yogyakarta city, as indicated by their single identification numbers, he added.
"Of the 350 thousand residents of Yogyakarta city who were targeted for vaccination, only around 234 thousand have vaccinated, or 68 percent," he said.
There are still around 108 thousand residents with Yogyakarta city single identification numbers who have not been vaccinated, Poerwadi said. However, not all of them live in Yogyakarta city, he added.
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"If the data for residents who are not domiciled are issued, then the vaccination achievement for Yogyakarta city residents can reach 79 percent," he pointed out.
Efforts to ensure that all residents are inoculated are being undertaken by hosting vaccinations directly in villages, he informed.
"However, the attendance rate is not good—around 40 percent to 70 percent—because there are residents who do not live in Yogyakarta," he said.
The effort to vaccinate Yogyakarta residents is in line with President Joko Widodo's goal to vaccinate 70 percent of Indonesian citizens by the end of 2021, he noted.
Recently, during the UOB Economic Outlook 2022 virtual seminar, the President had revealed that 72.76 million people, or 34.94 percent of the Indonesian population, have been vaccinated, indicating Indonesia is halfway to achieving its goal.
Related news: 3.5 million doses of Moderna from US govt arrive in Jakarta
Translator: Eka Arifa R, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
