VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

With COVID-19 vaccines produced by China’s Sinovac receiving regulatory approval for use in children, vaccinations will be rolled out for 12- to 17-year-olds soon, President Joko Widodo has said.

"We are thankful for the issuance of the EUA (emergency-use authorization) by the BPOM (Food and Drugs Supervisory Agency) for the Sinovac vaccine, in which it was stated that the Sinovac vaccines are safe for 12-17 year olds, and vaccinations for children within the age range can soon be carried out," said President Joko Widodo in a press statement streamed via the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel from Jakarta on Monday.

Reiterating the importance of everyone's contribution in the effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, President Widodo asked people to not hesitate to get vaccinated, and at the same time, strictly adhere to the health protocols.

"Maintain distance, wear masks, wash hands and once again I would like to remind everyone not to leave their homes for non-essential matters," he urged.

The national COVID-19 vaccination program administered 1.3 million shots on Saturday, June 26, 2021, exceeding the target set by the government of reaching one million shots per day by July this year.

Widodo lauded all parties, especially the Ministry of Health, the military and police forces, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, and private sector players who took part in the vaccination drive for their hard work, as well as the people who willingly received the shots.

He reiterated his request to all staff to maintain the distribution of one million vaccine doses every day until the end of July, 2021.

He also said the vaccination target will be doubled to two million doses per day from August, 2021.

"I remind all parties to work hard to meet the target of one million vaccinations per day and to maintain it until the end of July, and we can double that for August, 2021 and reach two million doses per day," Widodo remarked. (Antaranews)