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Indonesia begins to give third COVID-19 shots to 1.5 million health workers
Authorities kickstarted the program using the American Moderna vaccine last week, covering some 3,820 health professionals working in 14 Health Ministry hospitals in Jakarta and its satellite cities.
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Medical workers treat a patient in an emergency tent at Dr. Sardjito General Hospital in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on July 4. (Antara/Hendra Nurdiyansyah)
T
he government has started administering a third COVID-19 shot to health workers following the deaths of hundreds of frontlines in the past two months, many of whom had been fully vaccinated, due to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.
Authorities kickstarted the program using the American Moderna vaccine last week, covering some 3,820 health professionals working in 14 Health Ministry hospitals in Jakarta and its satellite cities. Most had received the Chinese Sinovac vaccine for their first and second doses.
The campaign is scheduled to begin this week in other regions, with the government aiming to give the booster shots to some 1.5 million medical workers within the next two weeks.
"We have sent [1.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine] to all provinces of Indonesia. I have instructed all regional health agencies so that this can be done in two weeks’ time,” Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Monday.
His target was more optimistic than the 45 days targeted for completing the program previously suggested by a Health Ministry official and the government spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccine affairs Siti Nadia Tarmizi.
Read also: Indonesian health workers to get Moderna jab as COVID-19 'booster'
Siti said that the government had decided to provide the booster shots after it was discovered that the Sinovac vaccine was less effective against the Delta variant.
