![Cardinal Hardjoatmodjo blesses seven cars and an ambulance provided by Sentra Vaksinasi Serviam [SVS] on August 3. Photo UCAN/supplied](http://examiner.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/catholic-center-launches-mobile-covid-19-vaccination-program-in-jakarta-610b7d20a78be_600-675x360.jpeg.webp)
JAKARTA (UCAN): The Sentra Vaksinasi Serviam [SVS], kicked off a mobile vaccination programme on August 3 to help speed up the administration of Covid-19 vaccines, particularly in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. It is targeting students aged 12- to 18-years-old, as well as needy people.
Located in the complex of St. Ursula junior and senior high schools, the centre’s programme hopes to inoculate people who may have slipped through the vaccination net. The schools already serve as vaccination centres.
Ignatius Cardinal Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta, chairperson of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, blessed seven cars and an ambulance during the launch, which was also attended by Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection minister, I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, and Jakarta governor, Anies Rasyid Baswedan.
Darmawati expressed her appreciation for the centre’s initiative and called the mobile Covid-19 vaccination programme a much-needed joint effort to make people safe from the virus
Speaking on August 4, programme coordinator, Angela Basiroen, said, “We are working with the Jakarta Health Agency and community health centres. We will serve local people as long as this programme is needed,” adding that more than 350 people were vaccinated on the first day of the drive.
According to Basiroen, each vehicle has a team of five people—a doctor, a nurse, two administration staff and a driver—which can vaccinate up to 100 people per day.
“We hope that village heads and sub-district chiefs can help us make a list of people who are not yet vaccinated against Covid-19. We are ready to help,” she said.
Cardinal Suharyo called the SVS effort “creative.”
The cardinal said, “The mobile Covid-19 vaccination programme is the materialisation of compassion towards our brothers and sisters who might not get vaccinated if we do not go to them.”
He added, “It is also the materialisation of the SVS’ deep spirituality which they want to instill among everyone involved in this effort.”
Indonesia has been hit hard by a major surge in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks with an average of 34,977 new cases daily, according to Reuters, and a death toll now exceeding 1,700 per day. As of August 4, the country had recorded 3,532,567 cases and 100,636 deaths.
