Indonesia Again Receives AstraZeneca Vaccine From The Australian Government

JAKARTA - Indonesia has again received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the Australian Government, which arrived in the 159th stage of arrival and was the result of donations and arrived in finished form as many as 1,095,000 doses.

"The Indonesian government really appreciates and thanks to the Australian Government for the arrival of this vaccine", said Director General of Information and Public Communication (Dirjen IKP) of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Usman Kansong, in a statement quoted by Antara, Wednesday, December 15.

Previously, Indonesia had also received donations of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Australian government twice, each coming with a dose of 1.2 million.

According to Usman, cooperation between countries in the world is very important in efforts to deal with COVID-19 which has claimed many lives.

Indonesia also participates in efforts to develop and transfer knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines for the Asia Pacific region.

"As friendly and neighboring countries, Indonesia and Australia establish close relations and cooperation in efforts to deal with the pandemic", said Usman.

Regarding the condition of administering the COVID-19 vaccine in the country, Usman said the Indonesian government continues to accelerate and expand vaccination.

With the geographical conditions and the large number of people who are a challenge, of course, the best solution must be found so that Indonesia can immediately achieve herd immunity.

Towards the end of the year, Usman ensured that efforts to accelerate and expand the vaccination program would not be slack, but would be increased so that the targets set could be achieved.

Usman believes that cooperation and participation of all elements are needed so that this national vaccination program can be faster and wider.

Of course, the most important thing is the active participation and participation of the community for the success of the COVID-19 vaccination activity in Indonesia.

"To deal with the pandemic, the vaccination program is one of the main keys and to succeed it requires the availability of vaccines that meet the needs of the Indonesian people", he said.

Usman said, for Indonesia, which has a population of more than 200 million people, a very large stock of vaccines is needed.

Therefore, various efforts have been and continue to be made by the government to meet these needs, both through bilateral and multilateral channels.

Currently, he continued, the government is expanding its target by starting to target children aged 6-11 years old with the hope that group immunity can be created faster.

"Along with that, the government continues to remind the public not to be careless in carrying out health protocols", said Usman.