Finally, Bali has received a new batch of more than 130,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac.
Bali Health Agency Chief, Ketut Suarjaya said that local officials gear up to focus the second phase of the mass vaccination program in Denpasar city.
“The second phase of vaccinations will be prioritized for the public in Denpasar city. We’ll finish Denpasar first, and then by the time, other batches come we will get to other regencies. So it’s a step-by-step process that begins in areas with the most [COVID-19] cases first,” Mr. Ketut said.
On the city and regency level, the highest caseload in Bali has been recorded in Denpasar, with 9,990 cases, followed by Badung regency with 5,950 cases. As of yesterday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Bali is 32,511.
For the second phase of vaccinations, the province is targeting about 663,000 people considered more vulnerable to the coronavirus and more likely to interact with the general public, which includes the elderly, educators, and market sellers.
The province’s first phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, which started on Jan. 14, was prioritized for health workers, just like the rest of Indonesia.
Though Suarjaya previously said that the second phase will begin in early March, it appears that the timeline has been moved up to this coming Wednesday.
