"Indeed, now, the fight for vaccines is getting tougher all across the world. Alhamdulillah, Indonesia has four sources of vaccines," Sadikin stated at the National Gallery, Jakarta, during a vaccination campaign broadcast live by the Presidential Secretariat here on Monday.
The four sources for vaccine procurement for Indonesia are manufacturers from China, Britain, the United States, and Germany-the United States. Thus, in the event of one supply source being interrupted, Indonesia can rely on other sources of supply, Sadikin expounded.
"Well, the smooth supply source is from China, as they routinely do shipments every two weeks," the the minister noted.
On Sunday (April 18), Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd dispatched six million doses of the vaccine raw material bulk as part of the planned 140 million bulk shipments. The delivery is the eighth arrival so far. Raw material for the vaccine will be processed by Indonesian pharmaceutical PT Bio Farma Persero into a finished product for inoculation.
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"Another shipment came yesterday comprising six million (doses of the vaccine's) raw materials. That will be 80 percent, or 4.8 million, in a month later in May. Hence, now, we are pushing the brake a bit since there are obstacles concerning (the supply of) AstraZeneca, but thank God, the Chinese one is still supplying. Hence, this April, God willing, it should be fulfilled. We have also prepared it for the month of May," he stated.
Earlier in March, some 16 million doses of the vaccine bulk for fighting against the coronavirus disease from Sinovac arrived in Indonesia on Thursday (Mar 25) afternoon. It was the seventh shipment of the Sinovac vaccine for Indonesia.
With the latest arrival, Indonesia has received raw materials, totaling 53.5 million, for the vaccine developed by Sinovac. Related news: Asia-Africa Conference must push vaccine equity: expert
Translator: Indra Areif P, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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