Govt Eyes 59% Targeted Population to Get COVID-19 Vaccine by Year's End

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin hoped that 59 percent of the Indonesian people targeted for COVID-19 vaccination would be fully vaccinated by the end of this year.

“We estimate that 122 million people or 59 percent of the target will receive the second vaccination by year’s end,” Budi said at an online press conference on Monday, October 18.

Based on the latest data as of October 18, 107,981,016 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 63,188,800 people have been fully vaccinated. The national vaccination target is 208,265,720 people.

“As ordered by the President, we have administered two million doses of vaccine per day for six days in September. In October, we reached it on October 13 and 14,” Budi added.

As the vaccination rate is accelerated, Budi expressed optimism that 168 million people or 80.5 percent of the target could get their first jab by year’s end, and 122 million people or 59 percent could be completely vaccinated.

The Health Ministry’s spokesperson Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the government accelerated the vaccination by opening vaccination centers closer to the community in health care facilities and by collaborating with private parties. 

“Partnership support, in the form of service areas, vaccinators, education and community mobilization, as well as effective facilities and infrastructure, accelerate the vaccination target,” said Nadia.

Read: COVID-19 Situation in Indonesia Starts Improving, Luhut Says

DEWI NURITA