VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 23 - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) believes that Indonesia is lucky as since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had moved to obtain a commitment for vaccine supply from producing nations.

Since it had received vaccines early, Indonesia was the first country in Southeast Asia to conduct vaccination against COVID-19 that commenced on January 13, 2021, Jokowi remarked during a virtual international conference on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday.

“Indonesia is one of the lucky countries. We are lucky. Since the start of the pandemic, we have been moving to secure access and commitment to vaccine supply for our country, Indonesia. Our vaccine diplomacy has been running since the beginning of the pandemic,” the head of state remarked.

The COVID-19 vaccination program in still underway in Indonesia and projected to be completed by the end of 2021.

"This is indeed a huge challenge, but we will do our best to achieve this target," he emphasized.

The vaccines offer a new ray of hope for the world. Hence, all countries in the world are racing to obtain the vaccine. However, it must be borne in mind that equal access to vaccines for all countries is crucial.

"We have to strengthen our cooperation internally in respective countries and also our cooperation with other countries in the world. The spirit of cooperation should be emphasized because no one is safe until everyone is safe,” he affirmed.

However, the head of state also cautioned people against harboring a false notion that the presence of vaccines would mean that the problem will be solved swiftly.

The global community should stay disciplined in applying the 3Ms health protocols: wear face mask, keep your distance, and wash your hands.

The president also promised that the government will continue to improve 3T -- testing, tracing, and treatment -- to curb the number of COVID-19 cases.

"We have to stay disciplined in strictly implementing the health protocols," Jokowi stated.  (Antaranews)