VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia has achieved the COVID-19 vaccination target set by the World Health Organization (WHO), Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has said.

Globally, the WHO has set a vaccination target of 10 percent of each country’s population by the end of September 2021, then 40 percent by the end of 2021, and 70 percent by the middle of 2022.

"Currently, at least 140 countries have vaccinated 10 percent of their citizens, including Indonesia," the minister informed while delivering a virtual speech regarding the arrival of vaccine aid from Australia on Thursday.

In addition, she informed that as of September 1, Indonesia has administered 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to become the world’s seventh largest country in terms of vaccines administered.

“Our vaccination acceleration attempts will continue as we have a huge population. However, the program will not succeed without support from the community," the minister said.

"Getting vaccinated and adherence to the health protocols will be Indonesia’s main assets to continue curbing the transmission of the virus," she added.

However, Marsudi also highlighted the gap in the progress of vaccinations in each country and region.

According to the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity, 57.34 percent of people in high-income countries have been vaccinated, while just 2.14 percent of the population in low-income countries has been vaccinated.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that unequal access and distribution of vaccines will create a dangerous divergence in the economic recovery and survival rates from the virus, Marsudi noted.

In addition, the latest report by the Economist Intelligence Unit has shown that the slow pace of global vaccination will decrease the global gross domestic product by US$2.3 trillion, or around Rp32.766 trillion during 2022-2025.

As much as 65.6 percent of the decline will occur in developing countries, while the Asia-Pacific region will experience 73 percent of the decline, the minister said.

Hence, leaders of the WHO, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization released a joint statement last week to urge countries to fulfill their commitments to share vaccine doses and remove export restrictions and trade barriers related to vaccine production materials, the minister added.

No end in sight yet

The Indonesian Foreign Minister also stated that there has been no definite confirmation on when the pandemic will end.

However, a number of countries have predicted that COVID-19 will turn into endemic, thus adjustments will need to be made to coexist with the virus.

Furthermore, Marsudi informed that the number of global COVID-19 cases has almost reached 210 million, while the death toll has crossed 4.5 million to date.

According to the WHO director general, currently, more than 650 thousand new cases are being reported worldwide every day.

"The spike in cases is still happening in the regions and countries that have previously experienced a decline in cases," Marsudi noted.

Whilst, in Indonesia, the number of new cases has dropped below 200 thousand cases, she said.

Thus, the status of the enforcement of the community activity restrictions in Java and Bali regions has been lowered to level 3 since August 24, 2021, she noted.

Marsudi also emphasized the importance of cooperation between the government and all Indonesian people to prevent another spikes in cases.

"Cooperation to conduct the vaccination and comply with the health protocols are the keys (to prevent more spikes in COVID-19 cases)," she added. (Antaranews)