Jakarta- At least 148.02 million Indonesian citizens have received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force reported on Monday.

According to data received from the task force, the number of Indonesians who have obtained the second dose or have been fully vaccinated increased by 163,040 to reach 148,021,351 on Monday.

Meanwhile, the number of citizens receiving their first dose increased by 65,273 to touch 192,068,763.

In addition, the number of people who have received the booster or third dose shot increased by 82,013 to 12,487,116, as per the task force’s data.

As part of efforts to boost community immunity against COVID-19, the Indonesian government launched a nationwide vaccination program on January 13, 2021, targeting as many as 208,265,720 citizens.

So far, the first COVID-19 dose has been administered to 92.22 percent of the 208,265,720 targeted recipients, while the second dose vaccine has been received by 71.07 targeted recipients in the country.

Meanwhile, the government has continued to urge citizens to not be picky over vaccines or indulge in “vaccine shopping” so that community immunity or herd immunity can be realized.

“Public communication continues to be carried out so that people will not be picky over vaccines. The best vaccine is the vaccine that we can get as soon as possible,” Deputy Minister of Health, Dante S. Harbuwono, said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Health had adjusted the waiting window for booster vaccinations with the issuance of Circular Number SR.02.06/11/1180/2022 on Adjustment for the Implementation of COVID-19 Booster Vaccination for the general public.

To accelerate herd immunity, the waiting period for getting the booster dose has been narrowed from six months after the second dose to just three months, the deputy minister added.

Source: Antara News