Coronavirus: Indonesia’s Jokowi to get first vaccine shot in free nationwide roll-out
- President Joko Widodo said he will be inoculated first to show people that Covid-19 vaccines are safe, as the country prepares to offer them for free
- South Korea is scrambling to organise more hospital beds as it reported its highest number of new Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began
Jokowi, as he is commonly known, ordered the finance minister to reallocate spending on other matters towards the free vaccines, according to a cabinet secretariat statement.
He will also be the first to be inoculated as a way to show people that the shots are safe. “So there is no longer any reason for people not to get it,” he said.
Indonesia walks back claims Chinese vaccine 97 per cent effective in trial
The country is home to the world’s fourth-largest population, and previously laid out a plan to pay for nearly 74 million doses through its national health coverage, while the rest of its 270 million people would have to shoulder the cost themselves.
The expense is a key concern for Indonesians, with only one-third of those who want to be vaccinated against the virus saying they would be willing to pay for the shots, according to a government survey in September.
The country plans to vaccinate its young working-age population before the elderly, in contrast to much of the world that is planning on putting its vulnerable older people first in line.
It will focus on inoculating those between 18 to 59 years of age, starting with those working on the front lines of the pandemic such as health workers, the police, and the military.
“Our aim is herd immunity,” said Amin Soebandrio, director at the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta. “With the most active and exposed group of population – those 18 to 59 – vaccinated, then they form a fortress to protect the other groups. It’s less effective when we use our limited number of vaccines on the elderly when they’re less exposed.”
South Korea cases soar
The latest number came three days after the daily tally topped 1,000 for the first time since South Korea confirmed its first coronavirus infection in January.
Covid-19 outbreak at student dorm as cases hit record in South Korea
The KDCA also reported 12 more deaths, the second day of double-digit deaths after a record 13 the day before in a country that had kept overall cases and deaths relatively low through aggressive tracing and testing.
The number of severe cases has more than doubled over the past two weeks to hit a record high of 226 on Wednesday. There were only three critical care bed left in the greater Seoul area with a nearly 26 million population, officials said.
“The top priority is securing more hospital beds,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a government meeting, according to a transcript. “Full administrative power should be mobilised so that no patient would wait for more than a day before being assigned to her bed.”
He said the government is making all-out efforts to implement current social distancing rules in an effort to avoid having to impose the highest level of restrictions, which would effectively be the country’s first lockdown.
Japan’s Suga under fire
On Monday night, Suga joined six others including senior officials at the ruling party gathered at a high-end steak restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza district. All of them are over 70.
A day later, Suga met Haruyuki Takahashi, an executive of the Tokyo Games organising committee, and two executives from a local TV network at another steak restaurant, local media reported.
No sweet honeymoon for Japan’s Suga amid pandemic and political scandals
Suga’s outings came after the government abruptly halted a government travel subsidy programme he had long defended, the latest wrangle to overshadow his first months in power.
India cases stabilise
India recorded 26,355 new coronavirus cases, data from the health ministry showed on Wednesday, making it the third straight day that daily infections in the country have stayed below 30,000.
India has recorded 9.93 million infections so far, the second highest in the world after the United States, but daily numbers have dipped steadily since hitting a peak of around 97,000 in mid-September.
The average number of Covid-19 deaths reported each day in India has been decreasing for 10 days straight, according to a Reuters tally.
On Wednesday, the health ministry said deaths rose by 360, with the total fatalities now at 144,069.
Australian airport worker tests positive
A 45-year old man who shuttles international airlines staff to the airport tested positive for Covid-19, New South Wales (NSW) health minister Brad Hazzard told reporters, adding the government will talk to international airlines in the next 48 hours to suggest changes to existing quarantine rules for aircrew.
“The inclination at this time is … that international aircrews coming into New South Wales will most likely be required to quarantine in the same way as any other international visitors,” he said.
New Zealand agrees to Australia travel bubble
Returning travellers from overseas are required to be quarantined for 14 days but Hazzard said airline crews need not go through the mandatory isolation for the same duration.
Australia has largely contained the community transmission of the virus and last reported a local case on December 3 when a hotel quarantine worker in Sydney tested positive for the virus.
Australia has reported just over 28,000 cases of Covid-19 and 908 deaths since the pandemic began but estimates there are less than 50 active cases remaining, mostly returned travellers from overseas in hotel quarantine.
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Poor countries said to be left behind in Covid-19 vaccine race as rich nations get first doses
Thailand halts domestic subsidy scheme
The online platform, which offers up to 40 per cent subsidies for hotel room rentals and air tickets, may be back next week at the earliest, or after the new year, he said.
Chinese spenders offer hope amid wreckage of Phuket’s tourism industry
The travel subsidy programme has been successful in boosting occupancy rates at local hotels hit by the global halt to travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. It helped boost average occupancy rates to 34 per cent in October, up from a single digit in April, according to Yuthasak.
The plan to offer an additional 1 million rooms at subsidised rates to travellers has been delayed, Yuthasak said. Local holidaymakers were earlier offered 5 million rooms under the programme that started on July 18.
