TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - At least 42.4 million Indonesian citizens have received the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday, according to a report from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

According to the task force data received by ANTARA on Saturday, the number of third dose recipients grew by 213,553 on Saturday, taking the total tally to 42,415,365.

Meanwhile, the number of fully vaccinated people, or those who have received two vaccine doses under the government's national vaccination program, swelled by 79,967 to reach 166,160,498.

As per the data, the number of people who received the first dose rose by 42,913, taking the total number of recipients to 199,556,458.

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 208,265,720 citizens across the country. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

Earlier, government spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, Wiku Adisasmito, emphasized that Indonesia needs to be wary of the increasing trend in people's mobility that can potentially cause a spike in COVID-19 cases after the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Adisasmito noted that according to data from Google Mobility, as of May 6, 2022, an increase in mobility has been seen at retail outlets, recreational and grocery stores, parks, and public transportation centers. Meanwhile, overall, people's mobility in the workplace and offices has declined.

Due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission presented by the increase in people's mobility, he asked people to remain aware of their health and promptly get tested if they experience COVID-19 symptoms to prevent putting vulnerable people at risk.

In addition, the community has also been urged to implement a healthy lifedata-style, including wearing masks continuously.

Read: Sinovac Vaccine can be Used as Booster: Health Ministry

ANTARA