Akhyar Nasution Will Be The First Field Person Injected By COVID-19 Vaccine

Acting Mayor of Medan Akhyar Nasution (ANTARA)

MEDAN - Acting (Plt) Mayor of Medan Akhyar Nasution will be the first person in Medan to be injected with the COVID-19 vaccine.

This assurance was conveyed after a virtual coordination meeting regarding COVID-19 vaccination readiness and health protocols with Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian.

This virtual meeting was represented by the Head of BPBD Kita Medan, Arjuna Sembiring in the command center room of the Pemko Medan office, Tuesday, January 5. In the video conference, the Minister of Health explained that the COVID-19 vaccination for the initial stage is intended for health workers throughout Indonesia. Later on, the vaccination will be continued for public officials as well as the community.

"The initial injection will be carried out by the President on January 13, 2021 and then followed simultaneously in 34 other provinces," said the Minister of Health quoted from the statement of the Medan City Government.

After attending the coordination meeting, the Head of Medan City BPBD, Arjuna Sembiring, said that vaccination will start on January 13.

"For the regions, it will be represented by the wali, the regional secretary, the chairman and members of the council and followed by other forkopimda," said Arjuna.

Even though later the community has been vaccinated, Arjuna said the Medan City Government still asks the public not to neglect to follow the health protocol to prevent COVID-19.

"This vaccination is to help the community, but I hope people will continue to apply health protocols by diligently washing their hands, maintaining distance and using masks," he said.

It was reported that President Joko Widodo was scheduled to undergo an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac on January 13. This vaccine injection is a symbol of the start of the first phase of vaccination in Indonesia.

"The president will be vaccinated on Wednesday, January 13 and the procedure for the process will be discussed this Friday (8/1)," said Head of Presidential Secretariat Heru Budi Hartono as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 5.

Indonesia is known to have received 3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturer Sinovac. The vaccine arrived in 2 batches, namely 1.2 million doses on December 6, 2020 and 1.8 million doses on December 31, 2020.

According to Heru, President Jokowi will undergo vaccinations with other parties.

"So whoever may have representatives and the process (will be discussed), the steps are not arbitrary," added Heru.

In addition, President Jokowi wants the implementation of COVID-19 vaccination throughout Indonesia to be completed in less than one year, faster than planned by the Ministry of Health.

"Yesterday I got information on the calculations from the Minister for 15 months, but I still bid for less than a year to finish," he said, Tuesday, January 5.

The president said the government must work hard to solve the COVID-19 pandemic problem quickly and precisely so that people's lives can return to normal soon. The central government on Sunday, January 3, began distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to 34 provinces.

"In the first stage, only 700,000 (vaccine doses) were sent to the regions, but we have three million in stock. Just sent to the 700,000 regions will be sent again, sent again later," said the President.

Next week the raw materials for making 15 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are scheduled to arrive for processing into vaccines by PT Biofarma. The vaccines will then be sent to the regions.

The President said that in the first phase, vaccination was prioritized for health workers, including doctors and nurses who worked in hospitals.

"Secondly, TNI-Polri, as well as teachers, will also directly coincide with the community," he said.

The President hopes that the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 can be more controlled after vaccination.