Photographer: Anadolu / Getty Images Agency
Photographer: Anadolu / Getty Images Agency
President Joko Widodo will be vaccinated against coronavirus on January 13, which would kick off Indonesia’s inoculation program.
Jokowi, as he is commonly known, will receive the shots along with public and army representatives as a way to build confidence in the vaccine, said Heru Budi Hartono, head of the presidential secretariat. He added that the event will be televised so that people can witness it.
China is struggling to get the world to trust its vaccines
Indonesia wants to start the vaccination program as soon as possible, as it faces the largest outbreak of coronavirus in Southeast Asia, with more than 770,000 cases confirmed so far.
From China Sinovac Biotech Ltd. has sent the country 3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Now, the government expects the local food and drug regulator to issue an emergency use permit for the shootings to begin inoculating its population, with the aim of reaching 181.5 million people by March 2022. Jokowi has asked the cabinet to further reduce this calendar.
Even before the regulator’s approval, the government has begun distributing vaccines to its 34 provinces spread across the world’s largest archipelago.
(Updates in more detail everywhere.)