Jakarta, July 30 (TIWN) Indonesia on Friday started administering the second Covid-19 booster dose to healthcare workers amid concerns over the new Omicron sub-variants.

In a statement published on the country's Health Ministry website, spokesperson Widyawati said that the programme targeted 1.9 million healthcare workers, reports Xinhua news agency.

"There has been an increase in Covid-19 cases in Indonesia recently and healthcare workers are a group which has a high risk of being exposed to the virus," she said.

Widyawati added that the Ministry has instructed all heads of health agencies across the country to carry out the programme starting from Friday following recommendations from the country's Technical Advisory Group on Immunization.

On Thursday, the Ministry reported 6,353 new infections and 17 deaths.