VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 15 - Israel’s largest healthcare provider on Sunday reported a 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer’s vaccine in the country’s biggest study to date.

Health maintenance organization (HMO) Clalit, which covers more than half of all Israelis, said the same group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the virus.

The comparison was against a group of the same size, with matching medical histories, who had not received the vaccine.

“It shows unequivocally that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study,” said Ran Balicer, Clalit’s chief innovation officer.

He added that the data indicates the Pfizer vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Germany’s BioNTech, is even more effective two weeks or more after the second shot.

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, who have been tabulating national data, said on Sunday that a sharp decline in hospitalisation and serious illness identified earlier among the first age group to be vaccinated - aged 60 or older - was seen for the first time in those aged 55 and older.

Hospitalisations and serious illness were still rising in younger groups who began vaccinations weeks later.

Israel has been conducting a rapid vaccine rollout and its database offers insights into vaccine effectiveness and at what point countries might attain herd immunity. (Reuters)

Feb. 15 - Indonesia has administered the first doses of coronavirus vaccine to 1,068,747 healthcare workers across the country as of Sunday (Feb 14, 2021).

Of the total, 425,578 healthcare workers have got their second vaccine shots, an increase of 10,092 compared to a day earlier. according to the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.

Just on Sunday, 8,421 medical workers across Indonesia got vaccine shots, the task force said.

The government has targeted 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, with the aim of building herd immunity against the coronavirus.

The first phase of vaccination involves healthcare workers and then public service officers.

With the addition of 9,237 people recovering from the coronavirus, the country's COVID-19 recoveries rose to 1,025,273 as of Sunday.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased 6,765 to 1,217,468, with 33,183 people succumbing to the infection, up 247 compared to the day before. (Antaranews)

Feb. 15 - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said Tukul Dam in Pacitan, East Java is expected to support food and water resilience in its neighboring areas.

Jokowi at the inauguration of the dam in Pacitan, East Java on Sunday said the dam could supply 300 liters of water per second, with the capacity to reserve 8.7 million cubic meters of water and irrigate 600 hectares of paddy fields.

"The dam, once again has a vital role in flood control, irrigation and raw water supply," the President said.

He also called on East Java Government and Pacitan District administration to make use of the dam that worth Rp916 billion for the benefit of local people.

"To benefit local people, increase agriculture production, and provide clean water," Jokowi said.

During the past six years, Jokowi's administration has constructed 65 dams across the country, including Raknamo and Rotiklot dams in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Tanju and Mila dams in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Tritip dam in East Kalimantan, Gondang dam in Central Java, Sei Gong dam in Riau Islands, Nipah Dam in East Java. (Antaranews)

Feb. 15 - No Indonesian fell victim to a powerful earthquake centered beneath the sea off Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, on Saturday, the Indonesian Embassy in Japan said on Sunday.

"The Indonesian Embassy has contacted (the Indonesian) community (in Japan). So far, we have yet to receive a report of Indonesian citizen falling victim (to the earthquake) ," the embassy said in a written statement.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern region late Saturday. The quake had the same location as a powerful quake on March 11, 2011 which triggered a tsunami and led to irregularities at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

"The Japanese government has checked the Fukushima nuclear reactor and there was no report of irregularities," the embassy said.

Reuters quoting Japanese national station NHK on Sunday morning repooirted at least 104 people were injured in the quake. But no fatalities were reported.

Data from the Japanese immigration show 66,084 Indonesians stayed in Japan as of June 2020.

An estimated 1,500 Indonesians stay in the areas which bore the brunt of the quake, comprising 540 in Fukushima and 984 in Miyagi. (Antaranews)