The self-funded vaccination program is expected to target 10.1 million people. We hope we can achieve the target of creating herd immunity in Indonesia soon.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government is expecting 10.1 million employees of private companies will be vaccinated against COVID-19 under the self-funded vaccination program.

"The self-funded vaccination program is expected to target 10.1 million people. We hope we can achieve the target of creating herd immunity in Indonesia soon," State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said during an online discussion on Indonesia Health Resilience and Self-Reliance, here on Thursday.

On March 13, 2021, state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) signed a cooperation agreement on the implementation of the self-funded vaccination program targeting employees of private companies and their families.

Through the cooperation, Kadin will register private companies in Indonesia and calculate the quantity of COVID-19 vaccines needed for the program.

Based on data from Kadin, the Health Ministry will determine the total quantity of vaccines to be allocated for private companies.

More than 8.5 million workers of 16,500 private companies have registered to receive the self-funded vaccine so far.

“I am optimistic, through cooperation and concrete work, we can build health resilience to contain the pandemic and create self-reliance,” Thohir remarked.

According to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, the government is planning to secure 426 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the self-funded vaccination program under which private companies would provide vaccines to employees for free.

“For the vaccines (for the self-funded program), we plan to buy 426 million doses of vaccines. Of the total, the prices and delivery schedules of 275 million doses have been confirmed,” the minister said during a hearing with Commission IX of the House of Representatives here recently.

The prices and delivery schedules for the remaining 151 million doses of self-funded vaccines are yet to be confirmed as the government is waiting for free vaccines from the COVAX Facility, coordinated by the WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), he explained.

To ensure that the self-funded vaccination program does not affect the implementation of the national vaccination program, the private sector will use different vaccines than those currently offered by the government, he added.

Vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Pfizer are being administered under the government's vaccination program. The self-funded vaccination program will use Sinopharm and Moderna vaccines, the minister informed.

So far, Indonesia has received 11.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX Facility. Based on the latest information, Indonesia may receive 54 million to 108 million doses of vaccines, Sadikin said. (INE)

Related news: Indonesia prepares for self-funded vaccination campaign

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Translator: Sugiharto P/Suharto
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