VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The arrival of 819,600 Moderna vaccines on Saturday, October 30, 2021. (ANTARA/HO) - 

Indonesia has received 819,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the Dutch government as of Saturday to support the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official has said.

"The Indonesian government expresses its highest appreciation and gratitude to allied countries that have helped in supporting vaccinations," director general of information and public communication at the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, Usman Kansong, said in a press statement released on Saturday.

The vaccines were the 108th batch to arrive in Indonesian and were received in the finished form, he informed.

Adding the Dutch consignment, the total number of vaccine doses received by Indonesia has reached 313,155,360, he said. The vaccines are from various brands and have been received in both finished and bulk forms, he added.

The vaccines have been obtained through direct purchase and assistance from allied countries, he informed.

"The smooth arrival of vaccines has made efforts to accelerate and expedite the vaccination program more optimal," Kansong remarked.

In addition to ensuring the availability of vaccine stocks, the government is trying to expedite vaccinations by educating the public, he said. In particular, it is making efforts to counter false news or hoaxes about the COVID-19 vaccine, he added.

He said that these hoaxes have stalled the vaccination process in some areas. This is because false news exaggerating the effects of the vaccines has fueled concerns among the people, he explained.

He stressed that all COVID-19 vaccines administered in the country have been deemed safe, efficacious, and permissible by the National Agency of Drug and Food Control. He said he expected people who have not received vaccinations to immediately get inoculated.

Those who have been vaccinated must also encourage their families and people around them to get the shot, he added.

This is in line with the government's measures to raise the vaccination rate in the regions as well as to anticipate the third wave of COVID-19, he said.

The government has also urged people to continue to follow the health protocols and remain vigilant to avoid a new wave of COVID-19 cases, he added//ANT

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin attends a news conference in Beijing, China, Nov 9, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Tingshu Wang) - 

China on Saturday (Oct 30) warned Lithuania and European officials not to disrupt ties over decisions by Taiwan and the Baltic country to open reciprocal representative offices.

China demanded in August that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador in Beijing and said it would recall China's envoy to Vilnius after Taiwan announced that its office in Vilnius would be called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.

Other Taiwan offices in Europe and the United States use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding a reference to the island itself, which China claims as its own territory.

Lithuania said earlier this year it planned to open a representative office in Taiwan, a decision that also angered Beijing.

China "resolutely opposes" official contacts between countries that have diplomatic relations with China and authorities in Taiwan, Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on its website.

"We urge the Lithuanian government to abide by the solemn political commitments made when establishing diplomatic relations with China and not to make irreversible wrong decisions," Wang said.

"The European side should adopt a correct position and prevent interference with the healthy development of China-EU relations."

China's Xinhua official news agency said Wang's comments followed a joint letter from the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission expressing concern over China's criticisms of the representative offices//CNA

Norway's Ambassador Mona Juul speaks in the Security Council at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Apr 29, 2019. (File photo: AP/Richard Drew) - 

The UN Security Council has strongly condemned attacks on schools, teachers and children and called on all parties to promote the right to education in conflicts.

A resolution adopted by the council on Friday (Oct 29) by a 15-0 vote emphasised the “invaluable role” that education plays in providing “life-saving spaces” and its contribution to achieving peace and security.

“For the first time, the Security Council has adopted a resolution uniquely dedicated to the protection of education,” Norway’s UN Ambassador Mona Juul, who sponsored the resolution with Niger, told the council after the vote.

She told the council: “Education is under attack around the world.”

Between 2014 and 2019, Juul said 11,000 attacks that harmed more than 22,000 students and educators in at least 93 countries were reported.

The resolution urges the 193 UN member nations “to develop effective measures to prevent and address attacks and threats of attacks against school and education facilities”.

It condemns the military use of schools, which violates international law and may make the buildings “legitimate targets of attack, thus endangering children’s and teachers’ safety as well as their education”.

The resolution urges all parties to armed conflicts to respect that schools are civilian facilities under international humanitarian law. And it calls on all countries “to take concrete measures to mitigate and avoid the use of schools by armed forces”.

The council expressed “deep concern that girls and women may be the intended victims of attacks targeting their access to and continuation of education”, saying such attacks can include rape, sexual violence and sexual slavery.

Council members urged UN members “to take steps to address girls’ equal enjoyment of their right to education”.

Juul said the 99 countries that co-sponsored the resolution are “an expression of a truly global commitment to this important cause”.

The Norwegian ambassador stressed that adoption of the resolution must be followed by its full implementation.

“We must do more to safeguard educational institutions from military use and attacks,” Juul said, “and ensure the continuation of education during conflicts - including by investing in education in situations of crisis and conflict”//CNA

A health worker draws a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, donated to Kenya by the UK government, in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug 8, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Baz Ratner) - 

Britain will send 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries by the end of this year, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell other world leaders is a much needed step to speed up the post-pandemic economic recovery.

Leaders of the world's 20 richest countries are gathering in Rome at a meeting which Johnson hopes will make progress on producing firm commitments to cut emissions before climate talks in Glasgow at the United Nations COP26 summit.

But he also needs to get the backing from developing countries, some of which are already experiencing the devastating impact of global warming and have struggled to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19 as Western countries race ahead.

At a meeting of the leaders of the seven largest advanced economies earlier this year, Britain pledged at least 100 million shots as part of a G7 aim to offer 1 billion doses, a scheme critics said was too slow and unambitious.

Britain said in a statement it had delivered 10 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, with 10 million more to be delivered in the coming weeks, taking the total to 30.6 million in 2021.

In 2022, Britain will donate at least 20 million more Oxford-AstraZeneca doses and also donate all the 20 million Janssen doses ordered by the government to the COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization and the GAVI vaccine alliance.

"Like a waking giant, the world economy is stirring back to life. But the pace of recovery will depend on how quickly we can overcome COVID," Johnson will tell G20 leaders, according to his Downing Street office.

"Our first priority as the G20 must be to press ahead with the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines."

Mass vaccination against the coronavirus is seen as crucial to restoring economic growth, trade and travel, but Western nations are racing ahead of developing countries, many of which have the lowest inoculation rates and rising cases.

One hundred former leaders and government ministers from around the world have called on Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who is hosting the G20 meeting, to address what they said was an unfair distribution of vaccines.

They said the United States, European Union, Britain and Canada would be stockpiling 240 million unused vaccines by the end of the month, which these nations' military could immediately airlift to countries in greater need.

By the end of February a total of 1.1 billion surplus vaccines could be transferred, it said//CNA