We hope that by the end of this year, we will have access to 30 million doses of the vaccine produced at Bio Farma. This is the foremost initiative.Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia aims to obtain 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by PT Bio Farma by the end of 2020, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said.
"We hope that by the end of this year, we will have access to 30 million doses of the vaccine produced at Bio Farma. This is the foremost initiative," he said at an online discussion here on Wednesday.
He said the government is also making efforts to facilitate the third phase of the clinical trials between Indonesian pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, United Arab Emirates.
In addition, the government has also established cooperation with Astra Zeneca, Moderna, and the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for developing the vaccine.
"Kalbe and Genexine Korea also have established similar cooperation," Hartarto pointed out.
The Indonesian government will receive vaccines as public goods at a price range of US$5-10 through GAVI/CEPI, he informed.
"The (procurement of) various kinds of (COVID-19) vaccines will assure us of being able to stop or mitigate COVID-19," he said.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had stated earlier that China and the United Arab Emirates have assured they would supply 290 million to 340 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia by the end of 2021.
Marsudi and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, in his capacity as chief of the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN), paid visits to China and the United Arab Emirates last week as part of efforts to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies.
"From the visits to the two countries, we have secured a commitment of 20-30 million (doses) of the vaccine in 2020 and 290-340 million (doses) until the end of 2021," Marsudi stated at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Monday.
"We have secured (a commitment for the supply of) 80-130 million (doses) in the first quarter of 2021 and 210 million (doses) from the second to fourth quarters. In total, we have secured (a commitment of) 290-340 million doses in 2021," she stated.
The minister also highlighted the government's short- and long-term efforts to meet the requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The short-term efforts encompass securing a commitment for vaccine supplies from the United Arab Emirates and China, while the long-term efforts entail creating self-reliance in the production of the COVID-19 vaccine, she remarked.
"That is, striving for self-reliance in the production of the red and white vaccine through the national team," she explained.
The United Arab Emirates health technology company G-42 Health Care Al Holding Rsc Ltd has committed itself to supplying 10 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia in the initial stage this year, in cooperation with state-owned pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma.
In addition, Sinovac Biotech Ltd, a China-based pharmaceutical firm, has concurred with the plan to lend priority to Indonesia in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine until the end of 2021, in association with state-owned vaccine producer PT Bio Farma.
During the visit to China, Marsudi and Thohir also met with representatives of the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd and vaccine producer CanSino Biologics (CanSinoBIO). (INE)
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Astrid Faidlatul H/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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