Indonesia reports record 21, 095 Covid-19 cases, targets 2 million vaccine doses daily in August

People queueing to register for the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Bali, Indonesia, on June 26, 2021.- AFP

JAKARTA (Reuters/Xinhua): Indonesia recorded its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases on Saturday (June 26) with 21, 095 cases, taking the total tally to 2, 093, 962, according to data from the country's health ministry.

The data showed 358 new deaths overnight, taking the total to 56, 729.

Indonesia has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths from Covid-19 in South-east Asia.

President Joko Widodo on Saturday said the South-east Asian country has set a target of administering two million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine per day in August in efforts to curb the surge in infections following the Aidilfitri holiday in May.

Widodo said the surge in cases in Indonesia was worsened by the inclusion of the more contagious coronavirus variants of concern such as Delta, Alpha and Beta.

The daily number of two million doses marks a sharp increase over the target of 700, 000 doses in June and one million doses in July.

"I hope that starting today, the target of one million doses of vaccine (per day) is achieved for the entire Indonesian population and we will keep it until July. In August, we are targeting twice," Widodo said.

Indonesia has administered 25.48 million doses as at Friday nationwide, including 12.91 million as the second doses.

As of Friday, Indonesia has recorded 2, 072, 867 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 1, 835, 061 recoveries and 56, 371 deaths.