The Health Ministry reported 14,536 new infections and 294 deaths, bringing the country's total confirmed fatalities to more than 54,950. Both the total cases and total deaths are the most in Southeast Asia.
The World Health Organization last week said Indonesia's drastic increase in hospital bed occupancy rates is a major concern and necessitates stricter public health and social measures, including large-scale social restrictions. “The situation is worrying,” said Riris Andono Ahmad, an epidemiologist at Gajah Mada University. “We are facing a second wave of COVID-19 with the most transmissible variant and the public's low compliance with health protocols.”“All of the government's efforts and policy to curb COVID-19 transmission will be ineffective if it gives room for people to gather and crowd,” he said.
The government has received 104.7 million vaccine doses, including 94.5 million of Sinovac, 8.2 million of AstraZeneca, and 2 million of Sinopharm. It expects to receive about 50 million Pfizer doses in the coming months, followed by 50 million Moderna doses.
Surges like are being seen in Indonesia are a clear sign that this pandemic is not over. The inequitable distribution of vaccines around the world is making this worse. We need a global initiative to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible.