WHO Targets 70 Percent Of The Population Of Each Country To Be Vaccinated By The Middle Of 2022

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi with TNI Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto during a welcoming ceremony for Indonesian citizens from Afghanistan. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said that the World Health Organization or WHO is targeting COVID-19 vaccination targets in every country. WHO implements a phased target. One of them, each country has vaccinated as much as 70 percent of its population by mid-2022.

"WHO has set a global vaccination target. At least 10 percent of each country's population by the end of this month and 40 percent of each country's population by the end of 2021, and 70 percent of each country's population by mid-2022," Retno said in a virtual press conference, Thursday, 2 August.

Retno said this target was made because vaccines and adherence to health protocols would be a strong asset to continue to reduce the number of virus spreads.

Because, said Retno, no one can predict when the COVID-19 pandemic will end. In fact, many countries are preparing scenarios for living with COVID-19.

"This pandemic has not yet seen the end. A number of countries predict that the pandemic will slowly turn into an endemic and have made adjustments to their strategies towards living with COVID-19," said Retno.

Retno said, until now the number of global COVID-19 cases has almost touched 210 million and the death toll is more than 4.5 million cases. Every day, there are more than 650,000 new cases worldwide.

He said the spike in cases was still happening, including in regions and countries that had previously experienced a decline in cases. However, Indonesia is experiencing a decline in cases.

"Alhamdulillah, in Indonesia the number of new cases shows a downward trend. Active cases have been below the 200 thousand mark and since last August 24. The status of PPKM in Java and Bali has been lowered to level 3," he said.

To continue to improve the condition of the pandemic, Retno said the partnership between the government and all Indonesian people in the context of implementing health protocols is the key to continue to keep the number of cases from increasing again.