"We are optimistic that early in the next year, Indonesia will be able to achieve its vaccination program target, (that is) vaccinating 70 percent of its citizens," the government's spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, Reisa Broto Asmoro, said at a virtual press conference, seen from Jakarta on Friday.
More than 150 million people have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 105 million have received the second dose, she informed.
According to data from the Health Ministry, out of the 208,265,720 people targeted by the government, 150,249,500 people have received the first dose and 106,020,538 people or 50.91 percent have taken the second shot as of December 17, 2021.
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Asmoro then cited data from the Central Bureau of Statistics pegging the nation's total population at 272,229,372. If Indonesia can vaccinate 108 million people, this means that 40 percent of the nation's total population will get the COVID-19 vaccine, she said.
"This is an extraordinary achievement for the largest archipelagic country in the world. The country with the fourth largest population globally, spread over more than 17 thousand islands," she remarked.
Indonesia needs to inoculate an additional 3.2 million people in order to reach its target of vaccinating 108 million people, she said.
To achieve this end, everyone must get vaccinated without delay, she added. The number includes around 26.5 million children aged 6–11 years, for whom a vaccination program was launched on December 14, 2021.
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Translator: Prisca T V, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
