Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has directed the South Kalimantan regional authority and the military and police heads in the province to collaborate in expediting the distribution of the second vaccine in the province.
"The first vaccine dose coverage in South Kalimantan has reached 85 percent, while the second vaccine dose coverage remains at 50 percent. I expect the military and police heads in the province to assist the local authority in the efforts to expedite the second vaccine distribution process," the president noted while observing the COVID-19 vaccination report in 17 provinces through video conference from the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Friday.
Apart from expediting the second vaccine distribution process, the president also instructed the local authority to prioritise regions with high level of public activities in organising vaccination drives for the third booster dose.
Jokowi also lauded the province's vaccination coverage record for the elderly population that had reached 66 percent of the entire targeted population.
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"For the third booster vaccine, the regional authority must concentrate the distribution at places with high level of public activity. I also laud South Kalimantan, as the province had recorded a vaccination coverage of 66 percent among members of the elderly group," Jokowi noted.
Meanwhile, South Kalimantan Governor Sahbirin Noor notified the president that the provincial authority was currently focusing on expediting vaccine distribution in the province.
The governor then made assurance to the president that vaccine stocks in the province were sufficient, especially as the latest vaccine batch shipping for the province had been received by the authority.
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Noor spoke of having instructed his subordinates to promptly distribute the vaccine to the recipients.
"I wish to express my gratitude for the latest vaccine shipping, and we are ready to distribute the vaccines to the residents," Noor remarked.
The governor also expressed gratitude to President Jokowi and the central government for encouraging regions to bolster their COVID-19 vaccination performance to suppress the COVID-19 pandemic.
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