12.3 Million Elderly Have Received Second Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine, Ministry Of Health Spokesperson: To Be Really Protected

Illustration of a COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo: Pexels/Cottonbro)

JAKARTA - As many as 12.3 million elderly people (elderly) in Indonesia have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This was revealed by the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), Siti Nadia Tarmizi, in a webinar entitled "Preparing to Live in an Endemic Era", Saturday, March 12.

Nadia said that the elderly are a group that is vulnerable to COVID-19. In addition, the most cases of death due to COVID-19 infection occurred in the elderly.

"The key to suppressing it is accelerating vaccination, especially for vulnerable groups, so that these vulnerable groups are truly protected," said Nadia, as reported by Antara.

Therefore, the government is intensifying services to accelerate the completion of the COVID-19 vaccination implementation for the elderly and other target groups.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, as of Saturday at 12.00 WIB, the second dose of vaccination had been carried out on 12,343,481 people or 57.27 percent of the total 21,553,118 elderly citizens who were targeted for COVID-19 vaccination.

There were 16,587,272 people or 76.96 percent of the target population, and 1,732,657 people or 8.04 percent of the target population who had received the new booster vaccination were 16,587,272 people.

Nadia also said that at least 70 percent of the population must receive two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine so that Indonesia can safely enter the endemic phase.

"The key for us to achieve this endemic is that 70 percent of our total population has at least received a second vaccination," he said.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, 150,773,781 people have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Saturday afternoon. That's 72.39 percent of the total 208,265,720 population who were targeted for vaccination.