"Until today, the population of 108,412,315 people, or 40.12 percent, had received full vaccination. This means we have gone beyond the target set by WHO," Sadikin noted in an official statement received here on Wednesday.
The WHO set a global target for vaccination rate, pushing each country to administer the complete dose of vaccination to at least 40 percent of their total population by the end of 2021.
The minister noted that the success were attributed to the assistance and support of all the citizens, including the national defense force, police force, ministries and agencies, regional governments, state-owned enterprises, community organizations, religious organizations, private parties, and the general public.
“Since the government started vaccination in last January, the Health Ministry has received continued support and assistance from several stakeholders. Thank you, because thanks to our joint efforts, the national vaccination rate target was achieved as we expected,” he stated.
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The health minister aims to vaccinate 208.2 million people when they started inoculation in mid-January. Some 154,593,449 people, or 75 percent of the target, had received the first dose of vaccination, while 108,412,315 people, or 52 percent of them, had received the second dose of vaccination.
In a bid to better protect citizens from COVID-19, children in the age bracket of six to 11 years were included in the national vaccination coverage. In the first stage, this vaccination took place in 115 districts and cities across 19 provinces.
Sadikin remarked that given the vaccination coverage for the first dose was above 70 percent and the elderly vaccination coverage was above 60 percent, the government officially started vaccinating children aged 6-11 years since December 14, 2021, with the aim of inoculating around 26.5 million children.
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"Based on our monitoring, the system has recorded more than 500 thousand children who have been vaccinated out of the target of 26.5 million. I think so far, the vaccination program has been running well and safely," he stated.
The minister made assurance that the best vaccine was the one that was currently available, so people need not hesitate to visit locations where COVID-19 vaccination is provided. The more the people who received COVID-19 vaccination, the more the people are protected.
Sadikin also reminded that public compliance to health protocols was still the main key in stemming the transmission of COVID-19. Both measures must go hand-in-hand in order to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
