President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) commended the achievements in terms of the vaccination rates in Semarang District, Central Java, reaching over 70 percent for both the first and second doses.

“I think the percentage of the first dose is above 90 percent, while that for the second dose reaches above 80 percent, and the number of elderly recipients is already high. I think Semarang District has a very good (achievement),” the president noted while reviewing the implementation of vaccinations virtually in 12 provinces from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Thursday.

While reviewing the implementation of vaccinations in Semarang, the president received a report from District Head, Ngesti Nugraha.

Nugraha noted that the current target for vaccination reaches 1,003 doses for children aged 6-11 years and 168 booster doses. The number of health workers conducting the vaccination reached 71 people.

The district head remarked that the rate of vaccination in Semarang District had, so far, reached 98.02 percent, or 814,358 for the first dose. Meanwhile, the rate of vaccination for the second dose had reached 80.7 percent, or 670,459.

To date, the vaccination rate for children had reached 93.69 percent, or 89,273, and 83.24 percent for the elderly for the first dose and 69.92 percent, or 72,626, for the second dose.

“For the booster vaccination, it has reached 39,701, or 4.78 percent,” Nugraha stated.

Nugraha said that his side along with the military and police as well as various other parties were jointly accelerating vaccinations. At each community health center (puskesmas), three vaccination teams have been formed that visit villages and sub-districts.

The team collaborated with sub-district heads, village heads, local figures, and religious leaders.

Nugraha also reported that the current stock of vaccines in Semarang District is still sufficient. If the stock runs low, it will immediately coordinate with the provincial health office.

On hearing the report, President Jokowi told the district head of Semarang to immediately complete vaccinations for the elderly and children to protect all communities from COVID-19.

“I really laud Semarang District, which has a very high percentage of vaccine injections, and I also really praise the cooperation between the regional government and the military district commands (Kodim) as well as with the precinct police (Polres). As a result, vaccination can be conducted quickly,” the president explained.

On the occasion, the president also had the opportunity to virtually greet two children partaking in vaccination activities in Semarang. The president advised children to maintain health protocols, especially by always wearing masks while participating in face-to-face learning activities.

Source: Antara News

ZCZC

Normalization of calibrated policies should occur in all countries: BI

Normalization of policies that are calibrated, planned, and communicated properly should be conducted by all developed and developing countries, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo stated.

“Hence, G20 members jointly formulate a normalization policy for developed countries and how developing countries can prepare in overcoming them,” Warjiyo remarked at the Finance Track side event of the Indonesian G20 Presidency here on Thursday.

According to Warjiyo, the global economy will continue to recover and grow 4.4 percent in 2022, not only in the United States and China but also in Europe, Japan, India, and other countries.

Thus, some central banks, such as the Fed, had begun to normalize and raise their policy interest rates to exit the inflation surge that hit the US, which means it would contribute to risks globally.

BI projected that the Fed would raise policy interest rates four times, while the market projected five times.

On the other hand, there is still an increased risk of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant as well as supply and energy disruptions.

Hence, Warjiyo stated that three steps were necessary for addressing these risks, with the first being the need for normalizing policies, especially from developed countries, to be done through proper calibration, plan, and good communication.

“We see the Fed’s normalizing and the policy interest rate hike plan. In this case, the market can understand and before the Fed interest rate rises, we see a rise in the US bond interest rates, as it is reflected in the global interest rates, including Indonesian bonds and rupiah exchange rate developments,” he elaborated.

Furthermore, the second step was to strengthen the resilience of emerging market countries, including Indonesia, so the normalization from developed countries can still support domestic economic recovery and stability.

Hence, the national and central bank policy mix is necessary for addressing these conditions, he added.

The third step that can be taken is cooperation among world central banks, such as through bilateral currency swap agreements and using more local currencies for bilateral transactions in trade and investment promotion.

Source: Antara News