Jakarta (ANTARA) – Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) Bambang Soesatyo, stressed the importance of vaccination to ending the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.
Besides protecting recipients from being infected by the virus, a high vaccination rate will also enable economic recovery, especially in regions dependent on the tourism industry, such as Bali, Soesatyo said on Monday.
“Bank Indonesia’s Bali office recorded a slight increase of 2.83 per cent in Bali’s economic development in the second quarter of 2021, compared to a decline of 9.82 per cent in the previous quarter,” he said in a statement that ANTARA received in Jakarta.
Economic recovery is linked to the high vaccination rate in Bali, which is currently the province with the second-highest vaccination rate nationwide, he noted.
During his visit to observe a vaccination drive in Klungkung District along with the district head, I, Nyoman Suwirta, Susatyo stated support from the public and police-military personnel is key to accelerating the vaccination efforts.
“Therefore, the COVID-19 vaccination drive could be accelerated to increase the number of recipients at vaccination points,” he stressed.
Out of Indonesia’s total population of 208.2 million, some 50,497,940 residents have already received their first dose, and 23,777,323 have completed their second vaccine shot, according to the National COVID-19 Task Force.
Bali Province’s COVID-19 Task Force also recorded, as of August 8, around 3.089 million local residents have received their first vaccine dose, and another 1.086 million residents have completed their second shot, out of the province’s total population of 4.32 million.
A total of 4.868 million vaccine doses has been provided, with current remaining stocks numbering 1.215 million doses.
Source: Antara News