Indonesia will begin its nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program on January 13; with President Joko Widodo set to be given the first jab, made by China’s Sinovac Biotech.
The mass inoculation program will begin in the capital, Jakarta; Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced on Tuesday; while vaccinations in other regions will follow on January 14 and 15.
The announcement came as Indonesia – the world’s most populous country; battles the worst coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia.
Health authorities in the country reported 7,445 new infections and 198 deaths in the past 24 hours; according to Kompas news, taking the total number of cases and deaths to 779,548 and 23,109, respectively.
The Indonesian government has previously said 1.3 million front-line workers will be among the first to receive the Sinovac vaccines, named CoronaVac.
The country has signed a deal for 125.5 million doses of the CoronaVac shot and has already received the first batch of 3 million doses.
Budi said after health workers are inoculated, regional governors should come forward to be given the vaccine in order to “generate confidence in the community”.
The World Health Organization, in a survey published in August last year; reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated vaccine hesitancy in Indonesia; with 27 percent of respondents saying they were wary of taking a coronavirus vaccine.
Their reasons ranged from fears over the safety and efficacy of vaccines to religious beliefs; including concern over the possible use of pork products in the jabs. The consumption of pork is forbidden or “haram” to Muslims, who make up 87 percent of Indonesia’s 273 million people.
The Indonesian food and drug authority, BPOM, meanwhile, is yet to approve the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines. BPOM did not respond to a request for comment, though the agency has previously said it hoped emergency use authorization would be granted once interim data from Sinova’s clinical trials in Indonesia, Brazil, and Turkey were studied.