Medan, Indonesia – Viktorious Veni considers himself one of the lucky ones.
The high school music teacher, who lives in Kupang, the provincial capital of Indonesia’s remote East Nusa Tenggara Province, was able to get vaccinated against coronavirus in May but knows that many others have not been so fortunate.
“Every day there are developments and there are more and more patients being admitted to hospital here in Kupang,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The Delta variant has already entered East Nusa Tenggara, so every day the numbers rise, especially in places like Labuan Bajo and Maumere.”
Veni was able to get a vaccine as he is a teacher and considered a front-line worker in East Nusa Tenggara but the province, like the rest of Indonesia, has struggled with a sluggish vaccine rollout coupled with spiking numbers of new coronavirus case numbers.