Foreign Minister urged Indonesia to be aware of emerging new wave of COVID-19

Jakarta (medialnews) –
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called on the Indonesian people to pay attention and learn from developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic that is occurring around the world, in particular the emergence of new waves in a number of country.

“We must prevent a similar incident from happening in Indonesia,” Retno said at a press conference for the arrival of the second batch of AstraZeneca vaccine, obtained under the COVAX program, from Soekarno airport. -Hatta, Tangerang, Banten, Monday evening. .

On this occasion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed Indonesia’s concern about the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has emerged in a number of countries around the world as well as the emergence of new variants in various countries.

“We are also seeing that the global vaccine needs are increasing and here and there we are seeing a slowdown in vaccine shipments around the world,” he said.

Amid all this, he continued, the Indonesian government continues to strive to ensure the security of vaccine supplies to meet the needs of the Indonesian people. However, the cooperation of all parties is necessary in order to be able to fight the virus together.

“Efforts to prevent this can be made if we all continue to be disciplined in implementing health protocols. Never let your guard down. The fight against COVID-19 is far from over, ”he said.

He also called on all parts of society to continue to systematically adhere to health protocols, such as wearing masks, washing hands and maintaining distance.

Previously, Indonesia had received 3,852,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca through the Multilateral Vaccine Cooperation Facility COVAX when the second batch arrived in Indonesia on Monday.

“Tonight Indonesia received the vaccine to become AstraZeneca for 3,852,000 doses. Delivery group The first multilateral vaccine of the COVAX Facility was received by Indonesia on March 3, 2021, ie 1.1 million doses ”, declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Thus, the number of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca that Indonesia has received under the multilateral COVAX program is 4,965,600 doses and all are obtained for free, he said.

Retno also expressed gratitude to the Indonesian Government to a number of institutions that have participated in the delivery of vaccines under the multilateral program, including GAVI, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Fund. United Nations for Children (UNICEF) and CEPI.

“We hope that the next multilateral vaccine delivery can continue as planned,” he said.

Journalist: Aria Cindyara
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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