A woman gets inoculated against COVID-19 in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 17 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) The Indonesian Government’sspokeswoman for COVID-19, Reisa Broto Asmoro,told a virtual press meeting on August 18 that the country’s vaccinationprogramme aims to inject 50 million vaccine doses in seven weeks, starting lateAugust.
She said this target is completely achievable sinceIndonesia is owning more than 190 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and theGovernment has committed to administering about 425 million doses to 208.2 millionpeople aged 12 and above.
Indonesia has licensed the use of the COVID-19vaccines of Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax. For the GotongRoyong vaccination programme, funded mainly by the private sector, only thevaccine of Sinopharm has been authorised.
As of August 18, more than55.19 million people in the country received the first jabs,equivalent to 26.5 percent of the Government’s target, and over 29.4 million gotfully vaccinated with two shots, 14.12 percent, according to the Indonesian Ministryof Health.
In the Philippines, this country is allotting 45.3 billion pesos (899 million USD) under its 2022 budget for COVID-19booster shots, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.
The move is made even as health authorities have yet to concludethere is a need for a third dose. It is unclear how many doses of vaccine thebudget can cover.
The Philippines has approved the emergency use of eight brands,including those of Pfizer and Moderna.
It has fully vaccinated nearly 13 million people, or 11.7percent of the total population of 110 million./.
VNA
