Iman Rahman Cahyadi, Jakarta – More than 8.4 million Indonesian citizens have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine as of Friday, government figures show, but the number represents a tiny percentage of the country's 270 million population.

Those who have been fully vaccinated came from three priority groups including health workers (1.3 million), public sector workers (5.4 million) and elderly citizens (1.7 million).

The country has administered 13.1 million doses of vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech and UK's Oxford/AstraZeneca since the mass inoculation began on January 13.

It also procured 482,400 doses of vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm in late April to be distributed by the private sector.

In a bid to accelerate the vaccination drive, the government allows the private sector to arrange their own campaign for employees. It appointed state-run pharmaceutical company Bio Farma to coordinate procurement from overseas suppliers to prevent vaccine trade in black market.

Bio Farma said earlier it has secured a supply deal for 15 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine and 20 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine from Russia for private companies.

Health Ministry spokeswoman Siti Naida Tarmizi said the targeted population will be expanded beyond the current priority groups starting in July.

She said the government has 8 million doses of outstanding vaccine stock but Bio Farma has enough materials to produce 26 million more under license from Sinovac in the near future.

Indonesia has recorded 1.7 million cases of Covid-19 since the outbreak began, including 46,663 deaths, according to Health Ministry data released on Friday.

The total number of active cases stands at around 98,000, down sharply from more than 180,000 active cases during the peak in December-January.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/84-million-indonesians-have-been-fully-vaccinate