Our vaccination rate has been high enough, but we need to soon get the percentage of fully-vaccinated Indonesians recorded at 70 percentJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia must step up efforts to achieve the 70-percent vaccination coverage target so that it is well-prepared for any potential wave caused by the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, a government official has said.
"Our vaccination rate has been high enough, but we need to soon get the percentage of fully-vaccinated Indonesians recorded at 70 percent," head of the Finance Ministry's Fiscal Policy Division Febrio Kacaribu stated.
The 70-percent target can hopefully be gained in a few months, he said during a hearing with House of Representatives' (DPR) Commission XI, which oversees financial affairs, here on Tuesday.
As of January 24, 2022, the number of first dose recipients in Indonesia has been recorded at 181.65 million, or 87.22 percent of the targeted population, he noted.
However, the number of second dose recipients, or those who have been fully been vaccinated, still stands at 124.63 million, or 59.85 percent of the targeted population, Kacaribu said.
Meanwhile, 1.36 million of the 1.46 million healthcare workers in the country have received the booster shot, he added. Thus, the booster coverage among medical workers has reached 93 percent, he pointed out.
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According to Kacaribu, the total number of fully vaccinated people in the United States has currently been recorded at 62.98 percent of the country's population, while the percentages of fully vaccinated populations in Asia, Africa, and the European Union have so far reached 59.69 percent, 10.12 percent, and 70.6 percent, respectively.
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has become a new risk that countries across the globe, including Indonesia, are facing, he observed.
Kacaribu, however, said he feels confident in Indonesia's ability to handle the potential spread of Omicron cases considering its better and more effective handling of COVID-19 compared to many other countries.
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The Indonesian government is aiming to fully vaccinate 208.26 million citizens to achieve herd immunity in the country, he said.
The total number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the country since the government officially announced Indonesia's first COVID-19 cases in early March 2020 has reached 4.28 million, he said.
Meanwhile, France has so far recorded 16 million COVID-19 cases, the United Kingdom 15 million cases, Russia 11 million cases, and Turkey 10.9 million cases, he added.
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Translator: AF Habibah, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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