JAKARTA (REUTERS) - Indonesia will receive 50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine jointly made by Pfizer and BioNTech, with the first batch expected in August, a senior health ministry official said on Saturday (June 19).

"Pfizer vaccines will start arriving from August, with shipments of between 7.5 million to 12 million doses per month," said Ms Siti Nadia Tarmizi, adding that the supply is the result of a direct government purchase.

South-east Asia's biggest country is grappling with a fresh increase in coronavirus infections in recent weeks. It recorded its highest daily infection figure on Friday since late January, with 12,990 cases.

The country, with a population of around 270 million people, has recorded nearly two million coronavirus infections since the pandemic started and 54,291 deaths, the highest in South-east Asia.

It aims to vaccinate 181.5 million people by next year. As at Saturday, 12.2 million people have received two doses of other vaccines.