The mass vaccination activity was conducted at the Padang 2 Islamic State High School and was attended by at least 3,500 students from nine schools.
"Vaccination continues to be pushed in order to create herd immunity to suppress the number of COVID-19 (cases)," head of the West Sumatra Regional State Intelligence Agency, Hendra, said in Padang on Thursday.
The nine schools from where the vaccination participants came from are overseen by the Padang Regional Office of the Religious Affairs Ministry, he informed. The schools included Thawalib Islamic Junior High School, 2 Islamic State High School, 2 Vocational High School, 3 Vocational High School, 25 Middle School, 38 Middle School, 6 Vocational High School, 16 Middle School, and Padang 32 Middle School, he added.
Students were enthusiastic about participating in the vaccination held by the West Sumatra Regional BIN, he said adding, door-to-door vaccinations were also organized for the community.
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He elaborated that the vaccination program in Padang was conducted to boost vaccination rates in the schools, which had been deemed low.
The low vaccination rate among students in these schools was confirmed by acting Regional Secretary of Padang city, Arfian.
The State Intelligence Agency's vaccination efforts are expected to have a positive impact in surmounting the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
Meanwhile, Hendra invited everyone to tackle COVID-19 pandemic collectively and make vaccination programs a success.
The West Sumatra Regional State Intelligence Agency is aiming to administer a total of 11 thousand vaccine doses to students, university students, and the public across West Sumatra region within one week, he elaborated.
"Addressing the pandemic requires the participation of all stakeholders, and we hope that the entire community, traditional leaders, ninik mamak, bundo kanduang, and regional leadership coordination forum can make vaccination activities successful in West Sumatra," he remarked.
Hendra said that he expected the intensive vaccination program to raise the vaccination rate to above 50 percent.
One factor for the low vaccination rate is that people are still paying heed to fake news about vaccines, he explained.
Thus, the public is advised to be wise when consuming information and not to be provoked by fake news that cannot be proven or justified, he said.
"Let's get vaccinated, because we don't want a third wave (COVID-19) in Indonesia, especially in Padang city. Besides that, the community activities restriction level in the West Sumatra area could go down," Hendra remarked.
The areas that have been covered by the West Sumatra Regional State Intelligence Agency's vaccination program include Padangpariaman, Pesisir Selatan, Dharmasraya, and Padang city.
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Translator: Laila Syafarud, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
