Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy has asked regional heads to not stock up on COVID-19 vaccines in order to speed up the vaccination program.

“We believe that vaccine stocks will continue to be available. Therefore, I urge regional leaders to not stock up vaccines. Every time they receive a vaccine, immediately vaccinate the community,” he said on the sidelines of reviewing vaccinations of Islamic boarding school students and people with disabilities at the Surakarta Islamic General Hospital Kustati here on Thursday.

Until now, Indonesia has continued to receive vaccines from abroad so the government can guarantee the availability of vaccines, Effendy said.

“We are continuing to receive vaccines from abroad. This is all thanks to the hard work of our foreign minister with various schemes she has devised. Besides buying these vaccines, the government is also obtaining vaccines from donors thanks to good bilateral and multilateral relations,” he said. In the meantime, speaking about vaccinations in Solo, the minister said that the vaccination program in the city was quite good. However, the handling of COVID-19 still has to be improved given that Solo is in an agglomeration area, he said.

“Solo is an agglomeration city, which allows most of the activities and mobility of residents during the day to be concentrated in the city,” he pointed out.

This condition, he said, complicates the handling of COVID-19 cases in the city.

“This is because Solo is the center of the people’s movement, especially from the surrounding area. In Solo, there are six districts with almost all of the mobility of citizens concentrated in Solo. Therefore, the vaccination program needs to be accelerated,” he added.

While reviewing vaccinations, the minister also distributed masks to dozens of students who took part in the vaccination program.

Source: Antara News