TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A total of 9,187,757 people in Indonesia have received their first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday, an increase of 212,391 compared to the day before, according to the government's COVID-19 task force.

Data from the task force shows the number of people receiving their first and second doses of the vaccine increased by 169,229 to 4,547,580 on Wednesday compared to the previous day.

The government has set a target of inoculating 40,349,049 people in the first and second phase of the national vaccination program.

The first and second phases of the vaccination program are targeting healthcare workers, state officials, public service officers, senior citizens, government employees, teachers, lecturers, traders, and religious figures.

The government has rolled out a nationwide vaccination program since January 13 this year to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Health Ministry's estimates, it will take 15 months to vaccinate about 70 percent of the country's total population to build herd immunity against COVID-19.

By March, 2022, the government is targeting to inoculate at least 181.5 million people, including 1.3 million paramedics and 17.4 million public sector workers, in 34 provinces, the Health Ministry's spokesperson for the vaccination program, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated recently.

According to Tarmizi, the first phase of the government's COVID-19 immunization program has been divided into two periods: January-April, 2021 and April, 2021-March, 2022.

Read: Covid-19 Infection Rate Shows a Downward Trend; Govt Credits Public Restriction

ANTARA