"The current population of cattle in Indonesia reaches around 18 million. We want to achieve at least 70 percent of herd immunity," the minister noted in a written statement received here, Saturday.
He also called for accelerating vaccine distribution to focus on priority areas, specifically those affected by severe outbreaks.
"We recommend that the acceleration of vaccine procurement be conducted immediately, such as in handling COVID-19 and prioritizing areas that have been exposed to FMD," Effendy stated.
According to data compiled by the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, as of June 18, 2022, as many as 183,280 livestock from 19 provinces in Indonesia were infected with FMD.
"We must pursue this vaccination since we cannot wait any longer for the disease to spread," he noted.
Related news: Agriculture Ministry to soon distribute 800 thousand FMD vaccine doses
The government is currently preparing to procure three million doses of emergency FMD vaccine. The procurement of the first stage of emergency vaccine is 800 thousand doses, while for the next stage, the figure reaches 2.2 million doses.
Some of the first-stage vaccines arrived on June 12, 2022, with a total of 10 thousand doses and the first vaccination being conducted on June 14, 2022, in two smallholder cattle farms located in Sidoarjo District, East Java Province.
The next vaccine shipment from the first phase, with a total of 800 thousand doses, arrived in Indonesia on June 16, 2022, via the Soekarno Hatta Airport.
Meanwhile, Muhadjir also encouraged data collection on farmers, who had lost their livestock due to the spread of FMD, in order to receive compensation in the form of social assistance or other forms of compensation.
"This aims to prevent an increase in extreme poverty rates due to FMD. Apart from the death of their livestock, farmers are also at a loss because of the high costs to deal with FMD. This is especially for small farmers, who lost their livestock," Effendy remarked.
As earlier reported, the government had approved the procurement of 29 million doses of FMD vaccine for livestock this year using funds from the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN).
"Around 29 million doses of the FMD vaccine will be financed with funds from KPCPEN," Coordinating Minister for the Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, stated on June 23.
Related news: Gov't agrees to utilize KPC-PEN budget for FMD vaccine procurement
Related news: Government expedites FMD vaccination for livestock to control outbreak
Translator: Wuryanti Puspitasari, Resinta
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
