We will overcome this shortage no later than the third and fourth week of this month. We are sure of it.Jakarta (ANTARA) - Head of the communication and public service bureau of the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, has assured that the current COVID-19 vaccine shortage in several regions would be resolved by the fourth week of October.
"We will overcome this shortage no later than the third and fourth week of this month. We are sure of it," she said at the “2022 Global Handwashing Day” commemoration event here on Monday.
According to Tarmizi, the current stock of COVID-19 vaccine doses stands at 1.2 million. Of the total, 200 thousand doses are being stored at the central government's storage facility, while the remaining 1 million doses are spread across regional storage facilities.
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One of the efforts to overcome the vaccine shortage is redistributing COVID-19 vaccines from regions with higher stocks to regions where the pace of vaccinations is higher than the national average.
"For example, to fulfill the vaccine stock in Jakarta, we could relocate (vaccine doses) from Banten or also South Sulawesi. Currently, the vaccine stock in the central (storage facility) is not large; only 200 thousand doses. If it is urgent, we will distribute it," she said.
Based on the report from the Health Ministry's Vaccination Dashboard, as of Sunday (October 16, 2022), 48 districts and cities in Indonesia have no vaccines in stock.
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According to the report, 9 districts and cities have enough vaccine stocks for conducting vaccinations for the next 7 to 10 days, 18 districts and cities have enough vaccine stocks for the next 10–14 days, while 91 districts and cities have enough vaccines to carry out vaccinations for less than 7 days.
She said that the vaccine redistribution process is currently on and is targeting regions that are in need of vaccine stocks.
As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 234,666,020 citizens.
Based on data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of October 16, as many as 204,768,553 Indonesians have received the first vaccine dose, 171,409,459 have been administered the second dose, 64,311,935 have taken the third dose or first booster, and 649,892 have received the fourth dose or second booster.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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