All vaccines must be listed under the WHO. This is mandatory, and it must be listed under the WHOJakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has made assurance that the government will only administer COVID-19 vaccine listed under the World Health Organization (WHO) for immunization against the coronavirus disease.
"All vaccines must be listed under the WHO. This is mandatory, and it must be listed under the WHO," Jokowi stated at the Tanah Sareal Public Health Center in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday.
The head of state observed the simulation of COVID-19 vaccination at the health center along with Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto and Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto.
"We are optimistic that the vaccine would arrive this November end. We are attempting to, but if not, it will arrive in December in the form of ready-for-use vaccine or raw material that will be processed in Bio Farma," he elaborated.
The vaccine is required to undergone a further process after arriving in Indonesia before immunization can be conducted.
"After we receive (the vaccine), there are some other stages from the Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM) to be cleared before we can vaccinate people. We need the Emergency Use Authorization from there," he stated.
The process is expected to take some three weeks to complete.
"After it receives the license from BPOM, we can start the vaccination. These scientific measures must be followed. We put public safety above all," the president noted.
The government has signed an agreement to buy a total 143 million doses of vaccine concentrate from Chinese pharmaceutical firms, with 65 million doses from Sinovac, 15 million doses from Sinopharm, and 20 million doses from CanSino. The vaccine will be produced by state-run vaccine manufacturer Bio Farma.
The Sinovac vaccine is still undergoing its third phase of clinical test, conducted by Padjajaran University since August and involved 1,620 volunteers.
Bio Farma will prepare three million doses of ready-to-use vaccine in November and will await BPOM’s approval before it can be used for vaccination.
In addition to China, Indonesia in August had signed a cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates' artificial intelligence company G-24 to supply 10 million doses of vaccine through state-owned pharmaceutical firm PT Kimia Farma.
Furthermore, in the second quarter of 2021, some 100 million doses of vaccine from British multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will arrive in Indonesia.
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