Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia has vaccinated 1.46 million medical workers since the campaign began on Jan. 13, representing 99.53 percent of all registered workers in the sector, Health Ministry data showed on Thursday.
Of that figure, 853,745 workers or 58.13 percent have received double doses of the vaccine produced jointly by state-run pharmaceutical company Bio Farma and China's Sinovac Biotech.
The government launched the second round of mass vaccination last week targeting elderly citizens and workers in other public sectors such as hospitality, transportation and education.
Athletes and members of the media are also included in the second round, which seeks to vaccinate 38.5 million people until the end of May, before other priority groups get the jabs of the vaccine.
The government has targeted to vaccinate at least 181.5 million people until early next year in a hope that it will reach herd immunity sooner.
National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa said earlier if the current pace of vaccination continues, new infections will plummet by July, leading the way to herd immunity by the first quarter of 2022.
"If nothing stands in the way, we will reach herd immunity by March 2022," the minister said.
Indonesia is the first country in Southeast Asia to begin mass vaccination against coronavirus thanks to its early vaccine procurement program involving inter-ministerial works.
The vaccination drive is currently focusing on worst-affected provinces in the most-crowded island of Java, home to around 70 percent of the total number of cases countrywide.
The country has recorded a total of 1.31 million coronavirus cases since the outbreak began. Daily numbers have been trending down since the peak in mid-January, but Indonesia still averaged around 9,400 cases in the last 25 days.
The total number of active cases currently stands at 157,705.
The virus has killed 5,520 people since the beginning of the month, bringing the total death toll to 35,518. The country has been averaging 221 Covid deaths in the past week, as the curve saw an upturn again.
Around 63 percent of coronavirus-related deaths have occurred in the country's four most populous provinces including East Java, Central Java, Jakarta and West Java.
East Java has recorded a total of 9,032 Covid deaths, more than any other provinces. Central Java comes second with 6,465 deaths, followed by Jakarta (5,366) and West Java (2,297).
Jakarta meanwhile has the biggest coronavirus caseloads with a total of 334,239 cases. It has been averaging 2,581 cases in the 25-day period.
However, West Java has outpaced Jakarta in the past two weeks amid highly fluctuating daily numbers. The country's biggest province by population has added 56,916 cases month to date for a total of 207,252 cases.
Central Java has been averaging 1,043 cases since Feb. 1, bringing its total number of cases to 151,418.
East Java has the fourth-highest number of cases, amounting to 128,149 as of Thursday.
Coronavirus cases are rising in East Kalimantan and Bali, while other hotspots like South Sulawesi, Banten and Yogyakarta began to see a downturn.