Indonesia to Get Up to 23.1 Million AstraZeneca Shots Via Covax

(Bloomberg) --

Indonesia will receive as many as 23.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine in the first half, boosting the government’s inoculation efforts as Covid-19 cases and deaths continue to rise by record numbers.

The Southeast Asian nation will get the shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the World Health Organization-backed Covax initiative, the Indonesian foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Covax aims to provide vaccines for developing countries.

The vaccines will arrive in stages, with 25%-35% by March and the remainder in the second quarter, the ministry said, citing a letter of confirmation from Covax. The shots can be used once the WHO approves the AstraZeneca inoculation for emergency use. The initial allocation for Indonesia is between 13.7 million and 23.1 million shots, the ministry said.

President Joko Widodo told officials on Sunday that distancing measures needed to be implemented more firmly and consistently to slow the virus spread, adding that military, police and religious leaders must pitch in.

Indonesia reported 12,001 new Covid-19 infections and 270 deaths on Sunday. It currently leads Southeast Asia, with 1,078,314 cases and 29,998 fatalities.

More than 493,000 people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of Jan. 31, with over 22,500 of them completing their second shot, according to official data. The government’s target was to inoculate 598,400 people in January.

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