Indonesia Braces for COVID-19 Spike Ahead of New Year's Eve

The COVID-19 Task Force is anticipating a potential surge in cases ahead of the incoming year-end holidays. After the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture previously announced that the country will implement stricter restrictions starting before Christmas until after New Year, the Task Force has to work to ensure Indonesia is equipped with a sufficient supply of coronavirus vaccine.

A spokesperson for the Task Force Wiku Adisasmito revealed that Indonesia has just received 5.7 million Pfizer vaccine doses from the United States. The donation, which is part of the COVAX Facility scheme, gradually arrived on November 20-22. He said they will be distributed for use to local health offices across the country.

“Hopefully those vaccine doses can be immediately optimized for the protection of public health,” Adisasmito said on Tuesday, November 23.

The health policy expert also reminded the public to be ‘disciplined and responsible to support the effort to contain the pandemic.

As of Wednesday, November 24, the Task Force reported 451 new cases, and in total. 4,254, 443 people in Indonesia have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2. West Java recorded the highest daily cases with 85 cases.

Daily deaths were recorded at 13, bringing the total death toll to 143,766.

For the national vaccination program, more than 136 million people in Indonesia have been partially jabbed, and more than 91 million have received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The third dose of the vaccine also continues to be distributed, and currently, 1.2 million people have been triple-jabbed.