To this end, the vaccination drives were held at 13 public health centers in five sub-districts, Jayapura Mayor Benhur Tomi Mano said in a statement here.
According to Mano, vaccination rates among the elderly and children were still relatively low because, as of Friday, only 6,151 of 18,189 elderly people in the city had received the first shot.
The number of fully-vaccinated elderly residents just stood at 26.91 percent or 4,895 while 1.56 percent of them had received booster shot, he said..
The vaccination rate among the elderly residents remains low because many of them have comorbidities. The condition has made them afraid of getting vaccinated, he said.
Mano said that he would work with other stakeholders to see changes on the low vaccination rate.
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In general, as many as 186,846 or 80.6 percent of 231,863 people in Jayapura City had received first jab, and as many as 135,139 people or 58.3 percent had received the second dose of vaccine.
"Hopefully, with the vaccination drives at the 13 public health centers, more elderly people will be (willing to be) vaccinated against COVID-19," the mayor said.
He disclosed that the COVID-19 cases continued to increase, and as of Saturday, February 19, there were 1,327 people who contracted the virus. Of the number, 144 of whom are undergoing quarantine at the LPMP Kotaraja building.
Mano said five sub-districts are currently categorized as the areas with a high risk COVID-19 transmission while the highest number of confirmed cases is found in South Jayapura Sub-district.
To protect the city's residents from getting infected by the coronavirus, he urged them to keep complying with health protocols.
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Translator: Evarukdijati, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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