Indonesia's confirmed cases of the coronavirus have breached half a million as the government of the worlds fourth most populous nation scrambles to procure vaccines to help it win the fight against the pandemic.

The health ministry reported 4,442 new cases to bring the country's total to 502,110, the highest toll in Southeast Asia and second in Asia only to India's more than 9.1 million confirmed cases.

The ministry said that the death toll from the virus is 16,002, and that it has been adding 3,000-5,000 daily cases since mid-September, AP reported.

President Joko Widodo said his administration is working on a mass vaccination programme for the vast archipelago nation, home to more than 270 million people.