VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A coalition of vaccine volunteers called Kawan Vaksin, which was set up by the Indonesian Doctors' Association (IDI) in 34 Indonesian provinces, says its members are ready to be the first to get COVID-19 vaccine shots, together with President Joko Widodo.

Dr. Iswanto Idji, the National Coordinator of Kawan Vaksin, here on Sunday said that the coalition was formed in various regions to help make the implementation of health protocols successful and to respond to the low literacy of the public towards vaccines as many people believed in hoaxes.

"We think we could help the nation to fight the pandemic. Vaccine is one of the government's efforts to expedite eradication of the COVID-19 pandemic, so that we can soon restore all dimensions of people's lives. Kawan Vaksin is present in the regions to encourage literacy and community participation in the vaccination program," he said.

Iswanto Idji also explained that in order to convince the public about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination, members of Kawan Vaksin at the central and regional levels are willing to be the first ones to be vaccinated.

This will show to the public that vaccination is safe and has no side effects, according to him.

Head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) Hasto Wardoyo said he would be ready to work with Kawan Vaksin at the grassroots level to support vaccination program to break the chain of the COVID-19 spread.

"We have multi-level networking comprising 1.2 million cadres and 23,400 BKKBN extension officers, both civil servants and non-civil servants who can work together with Kawan Vaksin in delivering vaccines. and change people's behavior,” he said.

Earlier, Daeng Faqih, IDI Executive Chairman, said that IDI members are ready to become first recipients of vaccine shots.

He also called on the Indonesian people to not hesitate to join the vaccination program because the vaccine quality assurance process and procedures carried out by the BPOM (Food and Drug Supervisory Board) are good. (antaranews)