If compared to other non-vaccine-producing countries, we are the bestJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia has become the country with the best COVID-19 vaccine injection rate compared to other non-vaccine-producing countries, the spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said.
"If compared to other non-vaccine-producing countries, we are the best," she said in an online dialogue titled "Vaccines for All Ages" on KPCPEN's YouTube channel, Thursday.
The national COVID-19 vaccination program had reached 110 million citizens inoculated with the first dose. Meanwhile, around 65 million people have been fully vaccinated against the virus, Tarmizi stated.
According to her, the government's effort to lobby to meet the country's COVID-19 vaccine needs is quite successful. The country has successfully administered 175 doses of vaccine to the citizens even though the total of the world's vaccine production is only around eight to nine billion doses.
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"This is indeed a challenge because, from the need of 426 million vaccine doses in the midst of vaccine production, which is only around eight to nine billion in 2021, we can receive the supply to inject up to 175 million doses of vaccine (so far)," she said.
The spokesperson said other countries consider Indonesia quite good in pursuing the vaccination target because Indonesia is ranked sixth in the world based on the number of recipients.
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"While from the number of doses that have been injected, we are in fifth place," she said.
The countries ranked above Indonesia are primarily countries that have production facilities.
In a bid to boost immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, and President Joko Widodo was the first recipient of the program.
According to the Health Ministry's data, as of October 21, 2021, nearly 110,931,375 citizens have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 65,600,310 have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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