VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Health Ministry is aiming to inoculate more than 20 percent of the total residents in each province against COVID-19 by the end of this month.

"President Joko Widodo has instructed that by the end of September everything (vaccination) should be above 20 percent," acting director general of disease prevention and control at the Ministry of Health, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Currently, only four provinces have reported a vaccination rate below 20 percent of the total regional population, he noted. Those provinces are Lampung, West Sumatra, North Maluku, and Papua, he informed.

"(The vaccination rate in) Lampung is already 18 percent, just a little bit more (is needed to meet the target)," he said.

Indonesia's global ranking in terms of mass vaccinations has not shifted from sixth place. "For the first dose and the total dose that has been injected, we are still below Japan," Rondonuwu said.

In Indonesia, the first vaccine dose has been administered to more than 38 percent of the population, or more than 80 million people, he informed.

This is why the vaccination rate in the country is set to reach 50 million doses every five weeks until early October 2021, he said.

"In the first week of September, we have reached 50 million doses. The second dose is more than 22 percent," he remarked.

So far, daily vaccinations in Indonesia have touched 1.8 million doses, or close to the daily target of 2 million doses per day, Rondonuwu said.

"We have reached 1.9 million last week. Hopefully, today we can record another 2 million of administered doses," he remarked.

The Health Ministry has continued to make efforts to ramp up daily vaccinations to 2 million doses, he added.

"If we look back, we can break through 2 million doses because it was usually stable at 3-4 million doses per day," Rondonuwu said. (antaranews)

The target to reduce extreme poverty by 20 percent in 2021 in seven provinces would be the toughest challenge for the government, according to Vice President Ma'ruf Amin.

"For 2021, we have targeted to (eradicate extreme poverty) in 35 districts and cities in seven provinces. This is the toughest target on account of the current challenging situation. However, we will do the utmost," Amin stated here on Thursday.

The seven provinces are West Java, Central Java, East Java, Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, West Papua, and Papua. Five districts and cities in the respective provinces have recorded a high rate of extreme poverty.

The National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K) has set a target to reduce extreme poverty by 20 percent in 2021, or some 2.1 million of the total 10.86 million people living in extreme poverty in Indonesia.

"This will be a tough challenge, as we do not have much time left," he stated.

The extreme poverty rate would be further reduced by 35 percent in 2022 and 2023 respectively and 10 percent in 2024.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the extreme poverty rate in the country had reached four percent of the population, or some 10.86 million. However, poverty rate, in general, had reached 10.14 percent, or some 27.54 million, as of March 2021.

President Joko Widodo has targeted to reduce the extreme poverty rate to zero percent by 2024.

According to the World Bank's standard of poverty, people with earning less than US$1.91 per day are classified as those living under the extreme poverty line.

The World Bank projects the global extreme poverty to increase to 88 million to 115 million in 2021 as an impact of economic contraction in several countries due to the COVID-9 pandemic.

In 2020, the global extreme poverty rate had reached its record high in the past two decades, the World Bank stated.  (Antaranews)

The Surakarta branch of the Indonesian disability rights organization -- Movement for Indonesian Deaf Welfare (Gerkatin) -- underscored the importance of facilitating people with disabilities to earn a livelihood and become economically independent.

"The lack of opportunities for people with disabilities to become economically independent is an issue we often encounter, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic," Surakarta Gerkatin Branch Head Galih Saputro stated in Surakarta, Thursday.

As a disability rights organization, Gerkatin has a mission to educate and assist its members to achieve their fullest potential, he noted.

Saputro welcomed corporations committed to supporting people with disabilities to regain their personal and economic independence, particularly through the online marketplace Shopee, which provided digital business classes for disabled individuals on the occasion of International Day of Sign Languages, commemorated every September 23.

"The training class, provided by the online marketplace Shopee, is a good start to educate and encourage the deaf community to participate in the emerging digital business. We also need to collaborate with other parties and assist more communities," Saputro remarked.

The Surakarta Gerkatin branch head expressed optimism that Shopee's training class, commencing in October 2021, would attract the deaf community to enter the digital business.

Indira Maritha, a member of the deaf community that participated in the Shopee digital business training, drew attention to the difficult situation often faced by the Surakarta deaf community amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Some of us who had lost our jobs are struggling to look for new job opportunities. Some of the others attempted to open a business, but they are also struggling," Maritha noted.

She pointed to the lack of accessible online business knowledge and information that had impeded them from starting an online business.

"We are glad Shopee provided a learning opportunity for us, as we could bring the information to the deaf community where we could continue the discussion and sharing our business ideas," Maritha affirmed.

Meanwhile, Head of the Public Affairs Department of Shopee Indonesia Radynal Nataprawira stated that the company had striven to expand its network to reach more communities, including the deaf community.

"We believe everyone deserves an equal opportunity and access regardless of their background or physical ability. When we discussed this issue with Gerkatin, we discovered that the deaf community was struggling to look for job opportunities, and they have zero knowledge about online business," Nataprawira stated.

To facilitate more communities to participate in online business, Shopee is glad to provide business classes for the deaf community, as they will have more choices to explore new opportunities and regain their economic independence, he noted.  (Antaranews)

 Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has called for better and more rigorous testing, tracing, isolation to anticipate any spike in COVID-19 transmission in Indonesia.

"The government must continuously carry out testing, tracing, and isolation. If there is one person who is infected (found positive), then they (their contacts) are immediately sought, until maybe more than 10 people are tracked," Amin said while reviewing mass vaccinations of media workers at Bentara Budaya Jakarta on Thursday.

Amplifying the testing, tracking, and isolation of positive people could help health workers handle COVID-19 cases better, he pointed out.

"So, if they were found out (test positive for COVID-19), they will be immediately isolated, not just let go freely," he said.

Amin also urged citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19 without delay, so that herd immunity can be achieved on a national scale.

"Then also we will continue to strive for this vaccination so that it could cover 208 million people, so that (the goal of building) herd immunity is met," he explained.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who accompanied the Vice President during Thursday's review, said that his ministry will ensure that testing, tracing, and treatment (3T) facilities in the regions operate and function well.

By implementing the 3Ts, any COVID-19 cases that arise would be handled properly, thereby coronavirus spread would be controlled, the minister said.

"The government will better the 3T facility. Maybe there is a small explosion, a cluster, it (COVID-19 transmission) can be quickly noticed in the cluster. You don't have to wait until it expands like we have experienced before, so the impact is not too (severe)," he added. (Antaranews)