VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 17 - The Indonesian Health Ministry announced that 1,120,963 health workers have received COVID-19 shots as of Tuesday as the government is striving to intensify the nationwide vaccination program to create herd immunity.

About 537,147 of the 1,120,963 health workers have received their second jabs. The ministry has set a target of vaccinating 1,468,764 paramedics across Indonesia.

To attain herd immunity, the government is aiming to vaccinate 70 percent of the total population, or around 181.5 million people.

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has stressed on the need for successfully administering the COVID-19 vaccine to the targeted population to attain herd immunity and free the nation from the clutches of the lethal pandemic.

"This is the largest and most determining vaccination program. It must be successful. We must not fail," Amin stated while speaking at an event held to commend and acknowledge the National Police's public services on Tuesday.

Vice President Amin reiterated that 70 percent of the country's total population must receive the COVID-19 vaccine to achieve herd immunity.

“I again want to emphasize the importance of not failing in implementing the compulsory vaccination program because it is the most effective way to reduce the COVID-19 infection rate and prevent transmission of the coronavirus," he remarked.

Furthermore, people must continue to practice health protocols strictly, he said, while reiterating that the vaccination program is compulsory, as stipulated in Presidential Regulation No. 14 of 2021.

The Indonesian government has been struggling to win the battle against the global pandemic since it announced the country's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.

The government has not only enforced restrictions on public activity in the islands of Java and Bali since January 11, 2021, but is also conducting a nationwide vaccination program that commenced on January 13, 2021.

The Health Ministry has revealed earlier that it would take 15 months to vaccinate around 181.5 million people under the national COVID-19 vaccination program.

Since January 26, 2021, Indonesia's COVID-19 infection rate has exceeded one million cases.  (Antaranews)

Feb. 17 - Indonesian Minister of National Development Planning, Suharso Monoarfa, and Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, discussed the progress of cooperation in the areas of environment, defense, and health on Tuesday.

"I express my appreciation to the Hungarian government for its continued support to Indonesia through our development cooperation," Suharso, who is also chairman of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Officially, Indonesia-Hungary relations, which began on 26 June, 1955, continued with an agreement to mutually support the candidacy of Indonesia and Hungary for the United Nations Security Council.

Hungary has been investing in Indonesia since 2016. In 2020, Hungarian investments in Indonesia reached US$1.5 billion, with most of the funds flowing into trade, hotels, and restaurants in the Bali and Nusa Tenggara regions.

Hungary and Indonesia have also committed to several collaborations focused on technology and infrastructure sectors, Suharso said.

"There are many potential (areas) for cooperation in trade and investment, especially with the plan to form an Indonesia-Hungary Investment Fund to support infrastructure development," he added.

Hungary has also shown interest in funding the Improving National Climate and Air Quality Service (BMKG) program, the Indonesian Attorney General's Integrated Intelligence System, and hospital projects under the Ministry of Defense.

This has been put on the List of Medium-Term Foreign Loan Plans (DRPLN-JM) / Blue Book 2020-2024.

The Hungarian government is offering financing facilities, with a soft loan scheme provided by the Hungarian Exim Bank and credit insurance for Hungarian exporters financed by the Hungarian Commercial Bank, Suharso said.

"The Ministry of National Development Planning / Bappenas will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related ministries to consider the offer from the Hungarian government," he informed.

He said his ministry, the Ministry of Finance, and the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade have agreed on the procedure for the G-to-G loan.

The procedure will involve use of EUR / USD currency and the loan will be provided at an interest rate of 0.05 percent, based on Commercial Interest Reference Rates, and will be granted with a grace period of two years.

The loan comes with a repayment period of 17.5 years and a bond status of at least 50 percent Hungarian content.

Suharso said Indonesia received a loan of US$36.4 million from Hungary in 2016 to finance the sub-district capital project of the Water Supply Program and the Small Water Treatment Plant for water scarce areas, which ended in August, 2020.

"We got a pretty good lesson from our last cooperation project on Water Supply, namely the importance of accommodating local content in projects supported by Hungarian funding, especially for construction projects," he said.  (Antaranews)

Feb. 16 - The number of Indonesians living in poverty rose by 2.76 million to reach 27.55 million of the population in September 2020, from 24.79 million in September 2019 amid the pandemic, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) stated.

"The percentage of poor people increased by 0.97 percent to reach 10.19 percent, from 9.22 percent," BPS Chief Suhariyanto noted during an online press conference here on Monday.

The hike in poverty rate due to the pandemic could be curbed owing to the government's social protection programs, according to Suhariyanto.

Hence, despite an increase in the number of poor people, the figure was not as high as that projected by several international institutions, he pointed out.

Citing an example, Suhariyanto remarked that the World Bank in June 2020 had forecast the number of poor people due to the pandemic in Indonesia to increase to lie in the range of 10.7 percent to 11.6 percent in the absence of the government's intervention.

"The increase in September 2020 was only 0.97 percent. This suggests that the various social protection programs that the government had launched during the pandemic have helped, especially people from the low-income group," he remarked.

The coverage of social protection programs was raised to 60 percent, from 40 percent of the lower-income bracket, he revealed.

The government allotted Rp695.2 trillion in budget funding for the national economic recovery program (PEN) in 2020, while the funding realization reached 83.4 percent, or Rp579.78 trillion.

Of the total budget funding, Rp230.21 trillion was allocated for social protection programs, and the realization had reached Rp220.39 trillion.

The BPS computes the country's poverty rate twice a year in March and September.

In March 2020, the number of Indonesians living in poverty stood at 26.42 million, or 9.78 percent of the total population.

The agency noted that the rise in poverty rate in urban areas was far higher than that in rural areas in September 2020. The urban poverty rate rose 1.32 percent to reach 7.88 percent, while the rural poverty rate increased by 0.60 percent to 13.20 percent as compared to September 2019.

The BPS also noted that the monthly per capita income in September 2020 stood at Rp458,947. This means the monthly per capita income of poor households in the country reached Rp2,216,714 on the assumption of each household size being 4.83. (Antaranews)

Feb. 16 - People who receive the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine can expect their antibody level to increase to up to 99 percent, which could reduce their chances of contracting a serious infection, an official said.

“The antibody level of more than 95 (percent) that we expect (from the vaccination) will be achieved only after (receiving) two shots of the vaccine at a certain interval,” director of communicable disease prevention and control at the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said during an online press conference conducted via the Presidential Secretariat Youtube here on Monday.

The first and second shots of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine need to be taken at an interval of 14 days, she stated.

"After the first shot, the antibody (level) reaches 60 percent. The antibody will increase to 99 percent after the second shot is administered 14 days later," she informed.

To make optimal use of the vaccine, two shots of the vaccine must be given after a certain interval, she added.

Even after getting vaccinated, people can still contract COVID-19, she informed. However, post vaccination, they will have antibodies that will prevent them from falling sick, she said.

"Even if the virus is stronger, based on the clinical trials of the vaccine, it (the vaccination) will protect them against heavy or deadly COVID-19 phenomenon," she added.

Indonesia has administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 1,068,747 healthcare workers across the country as of Sunday (February 14, 2021).

Of the total, 425,578 healthcare workers have got their second vaccine shot, an increase of 10,092 compared to Saturday (February 13, 2021), according to the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

The government is targeting to vaccinate 1,468,764 healthcare workers against COVID-19.

Overall, the vaccination campaign will target 181,554,464 people, or 70 percent of the total Indonesian population, to build herd immunity against the coronavirus.

The first phase of the vaccination program has prioritized healthcare workers and the next targeted group are public service officers. (Antaranews)