NDO/VNA – Indonesia will commence administering the third dose or booster shot on January 12, 2022, according to Airlangga Hartarto, chairman of the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee (KCP-PEN).

This programme will prioritise the elderly and vulnerable groups covered by health insurance. The remaining groups will have to pay for the booster shots if they need to get them.

The booster vaccination programme uses vaccines of the same or different types as those used in the first and the second shots, Airlangga said while visiting a vaccination centre in West Jakarta province. He also said that the use of vaccines has been recommended by the Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ITAGI).

Indonesia's Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) is expected to issue an emergency use authorisation for the booster vaccines early next year. They include vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Sinovac and Sinopharm.

Indonesia launched a national vaccination programme against COVID-19 on January 13, 2021, with the goal of providing vaccines to more than 208 million people. As of December 30, more than 160 million people in the country had received the first dose, while 113 million people had received the full two shots.