VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Government is targeting to administer 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021 under the national vaccination program, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.

"With this pace, we estimate that by the end of the year, 290-300 million doses will have been injected (in total)," Sadikin informed in a press statement, accessed online here on Monday.

The 300 million doses comprise 168 million first doses and 124 million second doses, he expounded.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked that two million vaccine doses be administered each day under the national immunization program to reach the target, the minister said.

"As of yesterday, 205 million doses have been injected. We surpassed the 200 million figure last week. Some 125 million people have received the first dose of vaccination or 60 percent of the target, and 80 million have received the second dose or 38 percent of the target," he informed.

Earlier, the President had raised the COVID-19 vaccination target in Indonesia.

"Because we had successfully achieved the target, he (President Jokowi) asked if possible in all provinces, the first dose vaccination reaches 60 percent in November and 70 percent in December," Sadikin explained.

Based on the number of first dose recipients, Indonesia ranks 5th globally, with more than 100 million citizens completing the first dose, he said.

To boost immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

According to the Health Ministry's data, as of November 8, 2021, nearly 125,468,157 citizens have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 79,340,983 have been fully vaccinated against the virus. (Antaranews)