President Jokowi: Vaccination, Health Protocols Key to Tackling Pandemic

President Jokowi inspects COVID-19 vaccination at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) on Wednesday (09/22). Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Rusman.

Speeding up COVID-19 vaccine rollout and implementing health protocols are the Government’s top priority in tackling the pandemic, according to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“We continue to speed up vaccination and strengthen the enforcement of health protocols. Those two measures are the key [to tackling COVID-19 pandemic],” President Jokowi said in a video conference after inspecting “vaksin merdeka” (independent vaccination) at  Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) on Wednesday (22/09).

The President expressed hope that the vaccination carried out simultaneously in a number of provinces across the country can accelerate the fulfillment of the Government’s vaccination goals.

“We hope [the “vaksin merdeka”] will administer 253,000 doses of vaccine across Indonesia today, and I hope it will speed up the vaccination progress in our country,” the President said.

For the record, “vaksin merdeka” is a collaborative vaccination program conducted by the Indonesian National Police (Polri), the Student Organization (BEM), and Community and Youth Organizations (OKP).

The event itself was held on 22 and 23 September 2021 in 96 vaccination sites, including 51 universities, 15 high schools/institutes/academy/polytechnics, and in 30 other locations. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/UN) (RI/EP)