Therefore, people must get the booster shot as part of efforts to boost immunity against COVID-19, he said at a press conference accessed online here on Friday.
"Booster dose becomes the power to avoid COVID-19. It is expected to increase the body's immunity or antibodies," Syahril added.
According to him, more than 416 million vaccine doses have been administered to Indonesian citizens under the government's COVID-19 vaccination program. Overall, more than 62 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated.
However, he highlighted that the achievement is still below the WHO (World Health Organization) target of 70 percent.
“The WHO's target is 70 percent. It means we still have a task of around 8 percent to meet the target of community immunity set by the WHO," he said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the recommendation made by epidemiologists on getting the fourth vaccine dose, he said that the government is still discussing it.
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The Ministry of Health is currently focusing on increasing vaccination coverage in the country because, so far, the second dose coverage has only reached 62 percent, he added.
As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.
Overall, the government is targeting to vaccinate as many as 208,265,720 citizens across the country.
According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of June 10, 2022, as many as 200,793,172 Indonesians have received the first vaccine dose, 167,997,799 have received the second dose, and 47,459,352 have received the booster dose.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
