Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday received the COVID-19 vaccine shot developed by China's biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech. The president, widely known as Jokowi, is the first Indonesian vaccinated to show that the vaccine is safe.

After the president, the Indonesian military chief, the national police chief and the Health Minister, among others, were also vaccinated.

Indonesia, through its Food & Drug Control Agency, on Monday approved Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine for use. The agency issued an emergency use authorization for the vaccine after interim results of its late-stage trials in the country which showed an efficacy rate of 65.3 percent.

The Muslim-majority nation's top religious body also approved the vaccine as halal (meng permissible under Islam) in a move that could help convince wary citizens.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Indonesia had updated a total of 846,765 COVID-19 infections, according to the Health Ministry. The virus has claimed more than 24,000 lives across the country, the ministry said.  As per Sputnik, live footage of the vaccination was broadcast on Indonesian television channels.

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