Indonesia's capital Jakarta is threatening residents with fines of up to five million rupiah ($356.89) for refusing Covid-19 vaccines, an unusually stiff penalty aimed at ensuring compliance with a new regulation making inoculations mandatory.

Deputy Jakarta governor Ahmad Riza Patria said city authorities were merely following rules and such sanctions were a last resort in Jakarta, which accounts for about a quarter of the archipelago nation's more than 1.2 million coronavirus infections.

“If you reject it, there are two things, social aid will not be given, (and a) fine,” Riza told reporters, according to Reuters.