VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

At least 14.6 million Indonesian citizens have received the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force reported.

According to data provided by the task force, the number of booster dose recipients rose by 27,984 on Monday, taking the total number of people who have received the booster shot to 14,628,765.

For the second dose vaccinations, the number of recipients increased by 107,698 to reach 151,486,424 on Monday, the task force's data showed.

Meanwhile, the number of people receiving their first vaccine dose rose by 73,543 people, as per the task force's data. Thus, the total number of first dose recipients has reached 193,474,037 people so far.

As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021.

The government is targeting to vaccinate as many as 208,265,720 citizens in the country.

Government Spokesperson for COVID-19 Handling Reisa Broto Asmoro has also appealed to the community to get vaccinated immediately to maintain immunity and prevent the worst risks of COVID-19.

According to Asmoro, completing vaccinations, both for the primary and booster doses, is essential because the body's immunity can decrease over time after the first injection is given.

Therefore, she asked the public to immediately go to the nearest health facility to get vaccinated so that vulnerable groups, such as older adults, people with comorbidities, and children who cannot be vaccinated, can be protected from the virus.

"The immunity in our body does not last forever. It does not mean that with one injection, the immunity lasts forever. Therefore, it must continue to be improved. As soon as the immunity goes down, it must be boosted so that the immunity does not drop and it can provide protection for us," she explained.  (Antaranews)