Jakarta. The Health Ministry claimed on Wednesday 1.21 million registered health workers have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine since the campaign began on January 13, representing 82.25 percent of the overall number.

Furthermore, 97.48 percent of health workers have received the first dose of the vaccine.

Health issue, not vaccine supply, is the main reason why a small percentage of health workers have not received the shot at all, according to Sugiyanto, the ministry’s human resources development head.

“For instance, 15 percent of health workers have underlying conditions such as high blood pressure and had to delay the appointment,” Sugiyanto said in Jakarta.

In some cases, vaccine distribution could not reach remote districts or islands where the health workers live, he added.

There are 287,822 health workers who have not received the first dose of the vaccine across the archipelago.

According to government figures, the country of 170 million has administered 6.58 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine as of Wednesday, with 1.88 million citizens already receiving double shots.

Indonesia has been using mainly a vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, after it delayed the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine amid reports of blood clots in Europe after the UK vaccine was administered.

The country received 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine last week through UN-backed procurement scheme Covax.

The Health Ministry announced last week it expected to rollout AstraZeneca vaccine in the next “two or three weeks” pending investigation by global authorities including the World Health Organization.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin warned on Tuesday that the vaccine in stock expires in late May.

The Drug and Food Supervisory Agency (BPOM) issued emergency use authorization for AstraZeneca vaccine a day after it arrived from the Netherlands last week but delayed the rollout over safety concerns.