Bernadus Wijayaka, Jakarta – A local policeman at the subdistrict police in West Teupah, Aceh, recently went viral for his creative and heartwarming way of convincing an unvaccinated farmer to get a Covid-19 jab.
The police officer in question was Brigadier Miswandi. A picture of Miswandi watching over unhulled rice grains on the asphalt road has caught netizens' attention.
Miswandi was looking after an unvaccinated farmer's unhulled rice while the latter was away for Covid-19 vaccination, according to Jakarta Globe's sister publication Beritasatu.
It was in late December when Miswandi went around Salur village in Aceh to check if there was any unvaccinated villager.
That was when Miswandi met a farmer who refused to get vaccinated. The farmer's reason? They did not want to leave their unhulled rice unattended.
"And so for the farmer's sake, Miswandi looked after their unhulled rice. The farmer was then willing to get vaccinated," Beritasatu reported on Tuesday.
As of Jan. 4, Indonesia has delivered about 166.6 million first doses, according to Health Ministry data.
This means that 80.02 percent of the targeted 208.2 million people have taken their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Data also showed that Indonesia has administered 114.5 million second doses, reaching about 55.01 percent of the target.