At least 41 million Indonesian citizens received the third or booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, according to a report from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force.
The task force data received by ANTARA here on Monday recorded that the number of Indonesians, who received the third dose, reached 41,028,913, as the tally rose by 23,969 on Monday.
Meanwhile, the number of fully vaccinated people, or those who have received two vaccine doses under the government’s national vaccination program, rose by 14,112 to reach 165,656,103 on Monday.
According to data, the number of people, who received the first dose, remained unchanged at 199,346,528.
As part of the efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 208,265,720 citizens across the country. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.
Government spokesperson for COVID-19 Handling Reisa Broto Asmoro stressed that booster vaccination is part of the mitigation efforts to protect all family members from COVID-19.
As the government has relaxed several restrictions on public activities, people should have robust immunity to prevent severe illness or even death.
Through the protection provided by the booster vaccine, everyone’s antibodies can be formed optimally. Moreover, children and the elderly, who cannot be vaccinated, can be protected if their surrounding environment is safe.
Asmoro also continued to remind people that booster vaccines can help the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Indonesia to be brought under greater control since it can help in keeping the trend of daily confirmed positive cases low.
According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of May 9, 2022, Indonesia has recorded a total of 6,048,685 COVID-19 cases, 5,886,211 recoveries, and 156,396 deaths.
Source: Antara News