Indonesian President to Receive Country’s First COVID-19 Vaccine – Manila Bulletin

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday, December 16, that he would be the first person in the country to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when he launched a campaign promising free vaccines for all in the world’s fourth most populous nation.

Jokowi’s announcement comes as Indonesia is fighting misinformation about the virus to prevent a new wave of infections, with some 630,000 reported as of Wednesday and more than 19,000 deaths.

“The COVID-19 vaccine for all citizens will be free,” Jokowi said in a video on his Twitter account.

The government originally said that only healthcare workers, the elderly and other key personnel would receive the vaccine for free.

Jokowi did not say when he would take the vaccine or when the national vaccination program would begin.

But he said he was happy to be the first to be vaccinated to show that it was safe.

“There is no reason why people should not receive the vaccine or doubt its safety,” he added.

Indonesia has signed deals for more than 350 million doses of vaccines from various international pharmaceutical companies, including British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca and Chinese suppliers Sinovac.

However, current vaccine offerings do not provide enough doses for the two required per person that would cover Indonesia’s total population of 270 million.

The country received its first delivery of 1.2 million doses of Sinovac this month, with another 1.8 million due to arrive in January.