Almost 120 million Indonesians have got first COVID-19 vaccine shots: Task Force

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government's COVID-19 Handling Task Force announced on Sunday that that as many as 119,662,248 Indonesians have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to the task force's latest data, the number of first dose recipients across the country has increased to 119,662,248 after 510,430 people had their first vaccine jab on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the number of those having fully been vaccinated against the virus rose by 408,295, bringing the cumulative number of second dose recipients to 73,698,983 as of Sunday.

In addition to that, the number of the third dose or 'booster' vaccine recipients, mainly health workers, rose by 3,795 to touch 1,134,177.

The Indonesian Government has targeted to inoculate 208,265,720 citizens in a bid to achieve herd immunity.

Earlier, the spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarimizi, informed that the country had received 312,335,760 vaccine doses in total, both in the form of bulk and finished products.

"Regions with low vaccination coverage should intensify vaccinations to reach 50 percent by November 2021," she said.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as of October 31, 2021, at least 4,244,358 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,088,635 people have recovered, and 143,405 people have succumbed to the deadly coronavirus.

As one of the efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021. President Joko Widodo was the first vaccine recipient under the program.

The central government is aiming to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the population by December 2021.
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