According to data provided by the task force, the number of people receiving the booster dose rose by 1,107,988 on Thursday, taking the total number of booster dose recipients to 11,324,273.
Meanwhile, the number of second dose recipients increased by 1,697,144 to 146,204,141, as per data. First dose coverage expanded by 132,895 to reach 191,110,409.
The Indonesian government is targeting to inoculate 208,265,720 citizens as part of efforts to achieve community or herd immunity. The government has continued to accelerate vaccinations in several regions to meet the target.
Earlier, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Siti Nadia Tarmizi said that efforts to accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations effectively reduced the number of vaccines that were about to expire at the end of February 2022.
"Since we identified that there were around 18 million vaccine doses that were about to expire, we made efforts to accelerate vaccinations by cooperating with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police (Polri) through the 'Serbuan' vaccination activity" she informed.
The 'Serbuan' vaccination activity was held throughout February 2022 and targeted an average of 2,500 people per day, especially older adults, she said.
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In addition, the Ministry of Health reduced the vaccine interval between the second and booster doses from six months to three months via Circular Number SR.02.06/11/1180/2022 on Adjustment for the Implementation of COVID-19 Booster Vaccination for the general public, issued on February 25, 2022.
The Indonesian Government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, as part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.
The government commenced booster vaccinations for the general public on January 12, 2022.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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