President Jokowi: Vaccination is Game Changer to Control Pandemic
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has called on the nation to be optimistic this year since he believed health and economic sectors will recover after vaccination.
According to the President, COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed gradually to the public is the key to recover from the pandemic.
“Vaccination is the game changer that will restore the situation; people can work as usual, children can study at schools, we can pray without worries, and national economy will rebound,” President Jokowi said in his remarks at the 2021 Financial Services Industry Annual Meeting, held virtually on Friday (15/1), from Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java.
For the record, the Government began vaccination program since Wednesday (13/1) after successfully completing all required vaccine procedures and development stages.
“Scientific studies and clinical testing have been conducted since August. The vaccine is declared to meet standards set by WHO (World Health Organization), has received Emergency Use Authorization recommendation from the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), and halal (permissible under Islamic law) fatwa (edict) from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI),” he added.
President Jokowi also ordered vaccination program for 181.5 million Indonesians to be completed by the end of 2021. Through free vaccination program, Indonesia will be able to reach herd immunity against COVID-19 once 70 percent of its population receives the vaccine.
“Thus, I want you to be aware that we must continue to follow health protocols though the vaccination program has been rolled out,” he firmly said.
For the record, Indonesia has procured 426 million doses of vaccine from four different manufacturing companies. (TGH/UN) (RAS/EP)