The COVID-19 Task Force and PT Bio Farma should intensify the dissemination of information on the plans on vaccine availability, schedule, prices, and the procedures of independent purchasing
Jakarta (ANTARA) - People's Consultative Assembly Speaker, Bambang Soesatyo, called on the government to leave no scope for speculations pertaining to independent vaccine trades to ensure the public is not deceived or wronged.

"The COVID-19 Task Force and PT Bio Farma should intensify the dissemination of information on the plans on vaccine availability, schedule, prices, and the procedures of independent purchasing," he noted in a statement received here, Tuesday.

Soesatyo believed the initiatives of certain parties, who have opened pre-orders for COVID-19 vaccines via independent channels, were rash actions.

Firstly, he pointed to the time certainty for vaccine availability to meet domestic requirements not yet being determined. Moreover, the government had still not reached a decision on the pricing of vaccines.

"This is because everything about the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination is still in the planning and discussion stages, so no one should speculate in order to ensure that public harm is averted," he remarked.

The speaker further noted that Bio Farma was planning to apply the purchase method by pre-order. However, he pointed out that Bio Farma had yet not taken any pre-orders of independent channels for COVID-19 vaccines for any purpose, including for the supply of health facilities or individual requirements.

"The number of finished COVID-19 vaccine products that are currently available reaches only 1.2 million doses that are prioritized for health workers. The plan is that there will be raw materials for the COVID-19 vaccine for manufacturing 45 million doses in January 2021, but the government has not set the priority for its utilization," he stated.

Soesatyo reminded that the community should not overlook the aspect of a permit required to begin the administration of vaccines, or the Emergency Use of Authorization (EUA) that would have to be obtained.

Furthermore, he reminded that vaccines for independent channels have yet to exist on account of the quite strict requirements. Hence, the public must be careful and await official information from the government.
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