Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's Health Ministry has secured the availability of COVID-19 vaccine doses in Papua Province before this year's PON National Games, according to a government official.
"Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has convinced us that the vaccine stocks for Papua are available," Head of the Papua Sports and Youth Office Alexander Kapisa stated.
President Joko Widodo had, in fact, highlighted the importance of vaccination in Papua before the PON National Games are convened from Oct 2 to Oct 15, 2021, according to the office head.
At a meeting covering discussions on preparations for this national sporting events in Jakarta in March, the head of state noted that the vaccination was aimed at protecting the locals and athletes, Kapisa noted.
To this end, Kapisa spoke of having coordinated with the Papua Health Office to prep for organizing massive vaccination for those residing in proximity to the national games' venues.
All Papuan athletes, officials, and people residing near the venues are targeted to be inoculated in September, Kapisa noted.
Selected athletes and officials from across Indonesian provinces will participate in the Papua PON National Games.
Indonesia has striven to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since March last year.
To stem the transmission of the lethal virus, the government has rolled out a nationwide vaccination program since January 13 this year.
The Health Ministry pegs the vaccination of 181.5 million people under the national program to take 15 months.
The time frame for conducting the vaccination extends from January 2021 to March 2022.
During the aforementioned period, the government is targeting to inoculate some 181.5 million people, comprising 1.3 million paramedics and 17.4 million public sector workers in 34 provinces.
The first phase of the government's immunization program is segregated into two periods: January-April 2021 and April 2021-March 2022.
As of April 17, 2021, the number of COVID-19 vaccine recipients had reached 10,801,244, according to data from the Task Force for COVID-19 Handling.
Even amid vaccine rollouts, Indonesia has been grappling with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic that has crippled nations across the globe.
Indonesia's public health and economy have been dealt a major blow from the coronavirus disease crisis, with some sectors, including travel and tourism, been battered by the pandemic.
To revive the tourism sector, the Indonesian government is eyeing to apply a travel bubble scheme with some countries.
In the first stage of its implementation, the Indonesia-Singapore travel corridor will officially open to enable travel for people between Singapore and Bintan, Riau Islands.
Related news: Government postpones National Sport Week in Papua until October 2021
Related news: COVID-19 disrupts construction work at Papua's PON sports venues
EDITED BY INE
