2021-01-14 10:36:07 GMT2021-01-14 18:36:07(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
JAKARTA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- A few minutes after receiving a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, Indonesian Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono tried to feel the effect to his body.
"It doesn't feel anything (pain)," said Saksono at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, a government-run hospital in Jakarta.
Indonesia launched its massive COVID-19 vaccination program on Thursday with health workers as the main priority group, a day after President Joko Widodo received the first shot developed by China's biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech.
Indonesia is targeting to vaccinate 181.5 million people until next year, in order to create herd immunity against the pandemic. Controlling the outbreak is a key factor to recover its economy which contracted sharply last year.