We are aiming to at least administer the second dose of vaccination to 50 percent (of the target population) by the end of December
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin highlighted the government's aim to cover 50 percent of the target population to receive the second dose of COVID-19 by December-end to expedite the realization of herd immunity in Indonesia.

"We are aiming to at least administer the second dose of vaccination to 50 percent (of the target population) by the end of December. There are also regions, with the second dose vaccination coverage reaching 80 percent and also 100 percent," Amin noted after inaugurating the COVID-19 Heroes Monument in Bandung, West Java Province, on Saturday.

The government continues to expedite COVID-19 vaccination in various regions, considering that the number of vaccine doses for the community is sufficient to achieve herd immunity, the vice president added.

"We will expedite vaccination, as we have sufficient stocks of vaccine. Since our territory is large, with a huge population, we will still continue to increase vaccine stocks," Amin remarked.

To accelerate the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination, the government not only relies on health workers from the health services but also counts on help from members of the National Police (Polri), Indonesia Defense Forces (TNI), The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), and mass organization.

"We will focus on agglomeration areas where the vaccination coverage is still low, at around 20 percent, as well as areas outside Java," he noted.

Meanwhile, based on data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of December 2, some 97,318,649 Indonesians had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, or more than 46 percent of the target population.

The government is still targeting 208,265,720 residents to receive two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to attain herd immunity.

The Indonesian government had earlier received vaccine assistance from the Netherlands on December 3. The arrival of the 146th batch of vaccines comprised 324 thousand doses of the Janssen vaccine.

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Translator: Fransiska N, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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