JAKARTA, Jul 10 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia is planning to inject the third doses of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers across the country, next week, a minister said.
The country’s Health Ministry will start the vaccination programme, using the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine next week, targeting 1.47 million health workers across the country.
Indonesia gave its emergency use approval to the Moderna vaccine last Thursday.
“The Moderna vaccine is planned to come this week and it is hoped that starting next week we can start (the vaccination),” Health Minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said.
Sadikin went on to say that the third vaccination will only be given to health workers, due to the limited amount of vaccines available.
“It is important for us to understand that, this third vaccination is only given to health workers. Because they are the ones who encounter very high levels of the virus every day and we must protect them to the utmost so they can concentrate on their work.”
Health workers received the second doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines. Until Jul 3, as many as 6,698 nurses were confirmed to have been infected with the virus and 339 of them have died, according to data by the National Nurses Association (PPNI).
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) said that, the number of doctors who have died from COVID-19 infections until Jul 8 is 458.
Yesterday, at a separate virtual press conference, head of the IDI’s mitigation team, Adib Khumaidi, said that, the number of deaths of doctors infected with the virus have been increasing drastically in the past two months.
“In May, the number of deaths of doctors increased by seven, and it immediately increased in Jun to 48 doctors. So, it’s almost seven times,” he said.
Indonesia yesterday recorded 38,124 new cases of COVID-19, in the past 24 hours. The total tally is 2.45 million, the country’s Health Ministry reported. Meanwhile, the COVID-19-related death toll added by 871 to 64,631.– NNN-ANTARA
