Jakarta (ANTARA) - As many as 56.8 million Indonesians have received COVID-19 booster vaccinations as of Thursday (August 4) at 12:00 WIB, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

The number of people increased by 379,623 as compared to the previous day, it said.

Meanwhile, 170,201,649 people received the second dose of vaccination, or an increase of 58,270 people.

The number of people that received the first dose of vaccine had reached 202,623,385, an increase of 49,178 people as compared to the previous day.

The government has targeted to administer COVID-19 vaccination to 208,265,720 citizens across the country through the national immunization program.

It continues to encourage people to take booster vaccinations. The government would accord priority to medical workers to receive the second dose of booster vaccination.

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The Ministry of Education and Culture has also encouraged students and lecturers to take booster doses of vaccination, for which onsite learning can be conducted in campuses.

Currently, the first booster vaccination coverage has reached 26.8 percent.

The second booster of the COVID-19 vaccine will be provided to the general public once the coverage of the third dose, or the first booster, reaches 50 percent, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Mohammad Syahril, said.

The second booster dose is currently only intended for health workers since protection offered by the first booster is considered to have decreased, Syahril explained.

The second booster will be provided to 1.9 million health workers in Indonesia, he stated.

Meanwhile, second booster vaccinations for older adults and people at high risk of COVID-19 will follow.

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Translator: Indriani, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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