TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo asserted that vaccination is the only way to fully protect Indonesian people from the new coronavirus infection or COVID-19. Thus, he called on the public to stay alert until the antibody is discovered.

“I say this again, COVID-19 threat is not ended yet until all people are vaccinated,” said the President while monitoring the virus mitigation in West Java, Tuesday, August 11.

West Java is one of the regions that are considered successful in containing virus transmission. Presently, almost all areas in the province have entered the yellow zone and green zone.

“I hope this will continue to be maintained and controlled. Hopefully, all yellow zones can move to green zones,” he added.

The government previously stated that the COVID-19 vaccine was targeted to be mass-produced in early 2021. The vaccine candidate developed by Bio Farma in cooperation with China’s Sinovac Biotech has now entered the phase-III clinical trials on humans, the last process of the vaccine discovery.

Jokowi said that before the potent vaccine is available, local intervention strategies are necessary, such as village-level social restriction on a large scale (PSBB). He believed the measure could ease the government in dealing with the problems in the field.

Read also: Jokowi to Supervise Covid-19 Vaccine Trial in Bandung

EGI ADYATAMA