VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 3 - Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army General Andika Perkasa was administered the first dose of vaccine against COVID-19 at the Army Headquarters, here, Tuesday, thereby commencing simultaneous nationwide vaccination of 353,647 soldiers.

The simultaneous vaccination is intended to be conducted in stages, as a follow up to the first stage conducted recently to prioritize 20,565 medical personnel of the Army, the Army's spokesman Brig. Gen. Nefra Firdaus stated here on Wednesday.

"This vaccination is conducted to support the government's program to fight the spread of COVID-19 infection and to boost immunity of every soldier of the Indonesian Army," he affirmed.

A total of 61,054 soldiers were planned to receive the vaccine shots on March 2, 2021, with priority accorded to soldiers responsible for ensuring the public's adherence to health protocols against COVID-19 and personnel of the Jakarta Military Command (Kodam Jaya).

In the second stage scheduled for March 15, 2021, some 80 thousand personnel, comprising those from the Army's Strategic Reserves (Kostrad), Special Forces (Kopassus), and 15 regional military commands across the nation will be inoculated.

The vaccination campaign will continue on April 1, 2021, for 100 thousand soldiers, and on April 16 for 92,028 soldiers.

The Army has deployed some 500 healthcare workers to administer the vaccine.

"Every Indonesian Army soldier is expected to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 2021," he stated. (Antaranews)