Indonesia's president to receive country's first COVID-19 vaccine shot | ABS-CBN

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Indonesia's president to receive country's first COVID-19 vaccine shot

Indonesia's president to receive country's first COVID-19 vaccine shot

Agence France-Presse

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A worker sits on a ladder as he installs a coronavirus awareness-themed banner bearing a portrait of Indonesian President Joko Widodo wearing a face mask in Jakarta in August. Dita Alangkara, AP/file

Joko says vaccine for all Indonesians will be free

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Wednesday he would be the first person in the country to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as he unveiled a campaign promising free inoculations for everyone in world's fourth most-populous nation.

Widodo's announcement comes as Indonesia battles misinformation over the virus in order to stave off a fresh wave of infections, with some 630,000 recorded by Wednesday and more than 19,000 deaths.

"The COVID-19 vaccine for all citizens will be FREE," Widodo said in a video on his Twitter account.

The government originally said only health workers, the elderly and other key personnel would be given the vaccine for free.

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Widodo did not say when he would take the vaccine, or when the national inoculation program would start.

But said he was happy to be the first to be inoculated in order to prove it was safe.

"There's no reason people shouldn't get the vaccine or doubt its safety," he added.

Indonesia has signed deals for more than 350 million vaccine doses from various international pharmaceutical companies -- including British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca and Chinese suppliers Sinovac.

The current vaccine deals do not, however, provide enough doses for the required two per person that would cover Indonesia's entire 270-million population.

The country received its first delivery of 1.2 million Sinovac doses this month, with another 1.8 million to arrive in January.

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Biden thanks Black Americans for their support

Biden thanks Black Americans for their support

Reuters

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During an event to mark Black History Month on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden told the audience at the White House he expects to be back next year celebrating the date, hinting at a successful re-election campaign.

Biden thanked the Black Community for their support and called on voters to choose honesty, decency, dignity, and respect.

On Saturday, Biden won the South Carolina Democratic primary - the first officially sanctioned race of the party's nominating season.

While Biden, 81, faced little opposition, the vote was being closely watched amid concerns about his popularity, especially among Black voters.

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Four years ago, it was South Carolina's Black vote in the state's primary that helped ignite Biden's campaign and ultimately propel him to the White House.

(Production: Gerardo Gomez) 

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