VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Health Ministry hasdistributed 2.29 million doses of Pfizer vaccine that arrived in the country in two batches to 10 provinces, the ministry's spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccinations, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, has informed.  

"The number of Pfizer vaccine that arrived in the 118th and 119th batches was 2,293,200 doses. In total, the vaccines that have arrived in the country from various brands, in bulk or finished form, are 332,671,550 doses," she informed in a written statement received here on Thursday.



The 118th batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrived at the Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang at 9.30 a.m. local time and Soekarno-Hatta Airport at 10 a.m. local time on Thursday, Tarmizi informed.



The 119th vaccine batch is scheduled to arrive on November 12, 2021 at Soekarno-Hatta Airport at 9 a.m. local time and at Ahmad Yani Airport Semarang at 9.30 a.m. local time, she said.



The Pfizer vaccine that arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport were immediately sent to the Health Service offices in Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, West Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Maluku, Maluku Pharmaceutical Installations, and West Java, she added.



Meanwhile, the vaccine that arrived at Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang was sent to the Health Service offices in Central Java and Yogyakarta, she said.



"The Pfizer vaccine that arrived this time was immediately disbursed to a number of areas, including West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, North Sumatra, and almost all provinces in Sulawesi and Maluku," Tarmizi informed.




The government took this step to increase vaccination coverage in the regions, she said. There are 21 provincial capitals that have reached the vaccination coverage target of more than 70 percent in November, she noted.



The government is continuing to ensure domestic vaccine stocks amid the limited availability of vaccines at the global level, she said.



"When we compare our data with global data for vaccination, we are ranked fifth for the number of people who received one dose of vaccination and also in terms of the number of doses given," Tarmizi emphasized.




Vaccination is one of the important tools for controlling COVID-19 transmission along with testing, tracing, and isolation, as well as implementing the health protocols, she said.



Although the level of daily cases in Indonesia has begun to decline, an increase in cases is still being detected in several districts and cities, she reported.



As many as 155 districts and cities have experienced an increase in cases in the past week compared to last week, she noted. Two cities—East Jakarta and Kendari— have reported an increase in cases for three consecutive weeks, she said.



"The government has dispatched a special team to monitor and supervise the implementation of health protocols in public areas to anticipate a spike in cases and the third wave," she added. (Antaranews)