Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian government received nearly three million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the German and Swedish governments on Friday.

The arrival of the 2,968,000 vaccine doses marked the 202nd step of the vaccine’s arrival in Indonesia, said the Director – General for Information and Public Communications at the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, Usman Kansong, in a press release on Friday.

“On behalf of the government and the people of Indonesia, we express our deepest gratitude to the governments of Germany and Sweden for this vaccine donation,” he said.

The Covid-19 vaccine doses were donated via the COVAX mechanism, he informed.

Previously, the German government donated 2,389,400 Modern vaccine doses to Indonesia on December 22, 2021 and 2,688,000 Modern vaccine doses on December 24, he noted.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a global problem that must be addressed together by all nations, including support for vaccination efforts, Kansong emphasized.

Due to the effectiveness of the bilateral cooperation that Indonesia has established with other countries since the beginning of the pandemic, the nation has received a lot of help, including donations of free vaccines, he said.

“Cooperation between countries is one of the important things for jointly managing the pandemic that has been going on for about two years,” he remarked.

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He stressed that the government has continued efforts to expand covid-19 vaccinations, especially in light of increasing covid-19 transmission in the country due to the Omicron variant.

He assured that the vaccine stocks received on Friday will be distributed immediately to regions of the country.

He further informed that Indonesia has exceeded the vaccination target set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

But several regions in the country still need to increase their vaccination coverage, he pointed out. To this end, the central government encourages regional governments to make the best efforts to increase vaccination coverage, he said.

He also urged unvaccinated people to get vaccinated immediately and those who are eligible to receive the third dose of the vaccine to get the booster shot immediately to increase protection against the virus.

“The increase in Omicron cases is also a reminder for us to always follow the health protocols,” he remarked.

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