Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD has called for religious leaders support to' expedite COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country.
"We need support and intermediary role of ulemas, Islamic boarding school caretakers and religious leaders. to speed up the vaccination of citizens," he said during a virtual get- together with Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, Islmaic boarding school caretakers, inter-religious mass organisation leaderships and regional government leadership communication forums (Forkopimda) across Central Java on Saturday.
Mahfud also appealed to the people of Central Java to work hand in hand to improve discipline in following health protocols. .
Strengthening collaboration based on common awareness is an effective step to contain the spread of COVID-19, he said.
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"Don't let religious and social mass organizations work alone. Let us strengthen the collaboration (among them) ," he said in a press statement.
The public's non-adherence to health protocols is because of the lack of knowledge and the impact of hoax news. Therefore, cultural and persona approaches are needed, he said. .
"The point is that we will work together. I will follow up on inputs related to hoax news in social media. Let us work together," he said.
Indonesia is seeking to vaccinate 208,265,720 citizens to build herd immunity against the coronavirus under the nationwide vaccination drive, which was rolled out on January 13, 2021.
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As many as 20,146,421 Indonesians have received their second COVID-19 vaccine dose as of 12 p.m. WIB (Western Indonesia Time) on Friday (July 30), according to the COVID-19 Response Task Force.
The number of fully vaccinated Indonesians rose by 477,199 compared to the day before, it informed.
Meanwhile, the number of Indonesians receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine jab increased by 516,051 to reach 45,805,993.
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