"Our people have shown their enthusiastic response," Spokesman of the Padjadjaran University's Research Team for Clinical Trials of Sinovac COVID-19 Vaccine Rodman Tarigan said here, on Sunday.
The registration for those wanting to be the volunteers would be opened until Aug 31 to get 1,620 registrants who meet all required criteria for being able to participate in the clinical trials, he said.
The registration would be terminated if the required number of volunteers had been achieved, Tarigan said, adding that the research team members would conduct a series of examinations to find whether or not the registrants had met the criteria.
As of Sunday, at least 100 registered volunteers had met the required criteria for participating in the clinical trials held at the Padjadjaran University Hospital, Padjadjaran University's health center, and four public health centers in Bandung.
They are the Garuda, Sukapakir, Dago, and Ciumbuleuit public health centers, he said.
State-owned pharmaceutical holding company Bio Farma has recently collaborated with Chinese company Sinovac to produce the COVID-19 vaccine for Indonesia. The COVID-19 vaccine material from Sinovac arrived in Indonesia on July 19.
Novel coronavirus infections initially surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.
Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 215 countries and territories, including 34 provinces of Indonesia, with a massive spurt in death toll.
To tackle this COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia is leaving no stone unturned to develop a vaccine to fight the virus.
To this end, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito echoed the government's aspirations to prioritize the triad of safety, precision, and speed in the domestic production of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"We must say that in the development of this vaccine, the Indonesian government prioritizes three important aspects, with the first about it being safe; second, being precise; and third, being fast," Adisasmito emphasized in his recent statement.
Currently, in addition to the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, Indonesian scientists are also working on a vaccine named after the country's national flag, Merah Putih (Red and White).
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Translator: Bagus AR, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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