"For West Papua, all people must be invited. Involve prominent religious figures, so that they offer a direct understanding to the population," President Jokowi stated during a virtual review of the implementation of vaccinations in 12 provinces held at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Thursday.
Jokowi lauded the close cooperation among the regional governments, national police, and military (TNI) in the implementation of the vaccination drive. He urged to accelerate the implementation of vaccination.
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On the occasion, West Papuan Police Chief Inspector General Tornagogo Sihombing reported to the president that the condition in West Papua Province was currently safe and conducive.
Some 1,819 people were being treated for COVID-19, out of which 1,647 were self-isolating, he noted
Sihombing also remarked that so far, no West Papuan people had died due to the Omicron variant, although based on the samples tested, the variant was detected in West Papua.
Sihombing also affirmed that his side will continue to work hard to vaccinate the people of West Papua.
Based on the 2020 West Papua population census data, West Papua's population had reached 1,134,068 people. The COVID-19 vaccination program targets to administer vaccination to at least 70 percent of the population, or around more than 790 thousand people.
Currently, around 58.2 percent of the target had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 38.5 percent were administered the second dose, and 1.7 percent were given the third or booster dose.
West Papua's authorities have urged the Ministry of Health to increase the stocks of the Sinovac vaccine to accelerate the implementation of vaccination and achieve the 70-percent target by the end of February or mid-March 2022.
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Translator: Rangga PAJ, Fardah
Editor: Suharto
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