Today, we received 800 thousand doses of the vaccine, and starting tomorrow, it can be distributed. We have ensured that these three million doses can arrive in Indonesia in stagesJakarta (ANTARA) - Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said his ministry will immediately distribute 800 thousand doses of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccine arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Banten, Friday morning, to regions to accelerate outbreak handling.
"Today, we received 800 thousand doses of the vaccine, and starting tomorrow, it can be distributed. We have ensured that these three million doses can arrive in Indonesia in stages," Minister Limpo noted in his statement while receiving the arrival of the vaccine consignment at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
The minister is optimistic that the vaccine stock would be distributed quickly through cooperation between local governments, crisis centers, and task forces in districts and provinces, so that injections as well as treatment can be administered optimally.
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"I hope that the task forces in districts, crisis centers in districts or provinces, and nationally, are ready to inject the vaccines," he stated.
The minister explained that the vaccine distribution process will be conducted at the location of the FMD outbreak that had been earlier mapped out. The ministry has categorized livestock that had been prioritized to receive the FMD vaccine.
Vaccine injection will be prioritized for healthy animals in the red and yellow zones. In addition, the FMD vaccine is prioritized for livestock located in the breeding source area as well as for livestock located in the dairy farming center area.
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Minister Limpo stated that the spread of FMD, so far, was the highest in the area of animal traffic, either by land or by sea.
"Animal traffic is one of the sources of the epidemic. Hence, there must be checks and quarantines on animal traffic travel, both by sea and air. We hope that checks and quarantines are also conducted on land, of course, because there are many alternative roads that pose a challenge," he stated.
The minister said the virus that caused the FMD outbreak spread swiftly through air. Hence, Limpo has urged all officers on the field to handle matters pertaining to the presence of humans and the entry and exit of livestock.
"The spread of this epidemic is extremely fast. Therefore, maximum efforts need to be made. Hopefully, this would bring a sense of certainty to us all that the FMD outbreak can be resolved optimally," he affirmed.
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Translator: Katriana
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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