Indonesian President Joko Widodo became the first person in the country to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot on Wednesday, as the government launched an ambitious vaccination campaign in a bid to stem one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia.

The immunisation campaign aims to inoculate 181.5 million people, with the first to be vaccinated receiving the CoronaVac vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech, which Indonesia authorised for emergency use on Monday.

Dressed in a white shirt and wearing a face mask, the president, who is known as Jokowi, received the jab in his left arm at the presidential palace.