VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Head of the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee (KPCPEN) Erick Thohir put forth a suggestion of two schemes for the COVID-19 mass vaccination program.

The two schemes are a free vaccination program and a paid vaccination program, Thohir, also the state enterprises minister, noted while delivering a scientific oration at Padjadjaran University, Bandung, West Java, on Friday.

"We proposed two types of vaccination to the government and the parliament, specifically government-funded vaccination under the military/police program in cooperation with the Education Ministry as well as the Health Ministry and the Indonesian Red Cross," he stated.

The Education Ministry will deploy 40 thousand prospective nurses and 12 thousand prospective physicians to partake in the mass vaccination program, besides 1.5 million doctors and nurses ready to support the program.

The budget for the free vaccination program will come from the state budget by utilizing data of the National Health Insurance (BPJS Kesehatan). The government had fully subsidized the premiums of 93 million people, he stated.

"We are optimistic that people capable of paying (for the vaccination) would help the government by opting for the paid vaccination program," he pointed out.

During its meeting with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), the committee urged members of some associations to conduct paid vaccination to lower the government's burden.

Thohir praised their commitment to covering the funding for COVID-19 vaccination for their respective employees.

Indonesia will receive 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by 2020-end, and it will have 300 million vaccine doses in 2021.

"God willing by the end of this year, we will have 30 million doses of the vaccine, and in 2021, we will receive 300 million doses of the vaccine," Thohir stated. (Antaranews)