VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Spokesperson for the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment Jodi Mahardi said vaccination coverage in Indonesia lends optimism to Indonesians to overcome the COVID-19 phases.

"Indonesia is listed among the 10 countries with the most vaccination coverage in the world. In addition, the number of vaccinated people has exceeded the WHO target," Mahardi noted in a written statement received here Monday.

As of September 26, as many as 86,460,685 people had received the first dose of vaccine, while 48,526,648 had been administered the second dose of injection, and 905,366 people had received a vaccination booster.

Based on the percentage, recipients of the first dose of the vaccine had reached 40 percent of the targeted 208,265,720 people, while the WHO recommends at least 10 percent of the total population to be vaccinated as of September.

The increase in vaccination in Indonesia cannot be separated from the hard work of all parties including the central and local governments, Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), National Police (Polri), State Intelligence Agency (BIN), community organizations, professional organizations, private sector, and state-owned enterprises (SOE).

Mahardi attributes the optimism to the smooth running of vaccinations alongside other efforts, such as the implementation of health protocols; increasing tracing, testing, and treatment (3T); as well as integrated isolation.

The number of daily positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia had continued to improve to 96.6 percent from its peak on July 15, 2021, whereas the number of active cases experienced a decline of 90.3 percent from its peak on July 25, 2021, Mahardi noted.

"In fact, the reproduction rate is less than one, and the positivity rate is below five percent. The government continues to strengthen the 3T and 3M and hold vaccinations as well as enforce the use of the PeduliLindungi application," he affirmed.

Mahardi later noted that the decline in the number of cases clearly had a positive impact. People are starting to reopen their businesses, so the economy can bounce back, Mahardi stated.

Economic recovery is apparent from the number of visits to shopping venues and the expenditure index that had continued to increase since August 2021, especially in Java and Bali.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had earlier stated that Indonesia was continuing to move towards obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine. At the same time, vaccines were also being requested by several countries.

"We are quite successful in securing supply of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is being sought by almost 220 countries," President Jokowi remarked.

In fact, Indonesia is currently ranked sixth in the world as the country with the highest number of vaccinations based on the worldwide total.   (Antaranews)