Vaccination drive-through campaign for hospitality workers in Bali

With just over 34,000 virus cases, this campaign hopes to keep case numbers low and kickstart tourism  

As reported by Asia Times, Indonesia’s well-known resort island Bali has established a drive-through campaign for thousands of hospitality workers, as the popular tourist destination is ambitious in reopening to overseas visitors.  

Accounted as the first campaign of its kind in Southeast Asia, Bali’s drive-through vaccination kicked-off earlier this month. The program intends to immunise around 5,000 workers in hospitality and ride-share services by end of March.  

The campaign was held at Nusa Dua Bali Convention Center in Bali’s capital Denpasar and collaborated with Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab.  

Zul Widodo, a ride-hailing driver, said, “This drive-through program is good, because for us drivers who work on the street every day, we are very vulnerable to being exposed to the virus.”  

As of August 2020, Bali has been closed to foreign visitors due to the pandemic, pounding its key tourism sector.  

Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno, mentioned in a weekend statement, “The COVID-19 vaccine is paramount for Indonesia’s tourism industry recovery.”  

“The availability of vaccines continues to be a source of hope for people to return to normalcy and boost confidence that they can travel safely,” the minister added.  

Bali has just over 34,000 virus cases and some 923 deaths recorded. 

More: Indonesian government bets on middle class to boost home sales and revive pandemic-hit economy

The drive-through vaccination has been launched together with Indonesia’s nationwide vaccination bid, which started off in January with the Chinese CoronaVac jabs.  

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation, plans to vaccinate more than 180 of its approaching 270 million people.

As of now, it is unclear whether the drive-through initiative will be rolled out in other cities throughout the archipelago.