On Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he would be the first person to be vaccinated for Covid-19 in the country as he unveiled a campaign promising free inoculations for all in the fourth most populous nation in the world.
The announcement by Widodo comes as Indonesia fights misinformation about the virus to stave off a new wave of infections, with some 630,000 identified by Wednesday and more than 19,000 deaths.
“The Covid-19 vaccine for all citizens will be FREE,” President said in a video on his Twitter account.
Originally, the government said that the vaccine would be provided for free only to health workers, the elderly and other main personnel. Widodo did not say when he would take the vaccine or when he would begin the national inoculation programme. He said however, that he was glad to be the first to be inoculated to show that it was safe.
This month, the country received the first supply of 1.2 million doses of Sinovac, another 1.8 million to arrive in January.