TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The World Bank predicts Indonesia and the Philippines will be able to vaccinate more than 60 percent of their population by mid-2022. This will restore economic activities in the two countries.

"Vaccination does not eliminate infections but reduces mortality significantly, so that economic activity can resume," said the World Bank East Asia Pacific (EAP) chief economist Aaditya Mattoo during the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update Briefing in Jakarta, Tuesday, September 28.

Mattoo said faster vaccine rollouts and testing to control Covid-19 could stimulate economic activities in the first half of next year, and double growth the following year.

The World Bank said that East Asia and the Pacific need to make serious efforts in four areas to deal with prolonged pandemic. The first is overcoming doubts about vaccines and limited distribution capacity.

The second is to increase testing, tracking and isolation to control infection, and the third is to increase regional vaccine production to reduce dependence on imported supplies.

"The last is to strengthen health systems," he said.

Economic recovery in the East Asia and Pacific Region is constrained by the spread of the Delta variant 19 that has extended the hardships faced by companies and households.

The situations have led to the addition of stunting cases, the erosion of human capital and the loss of productive assets—potentially hampering household incomes in the future.

Read: World Bank Optimistic Towards Indonesia's Economic Growth

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