With the vaccines that Indonesia has secured so far, it is able to distribute 49,618 million doses. This is the largest vaccination drive in AsiaJakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has secured over 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through both bilateral and multilateral means of cooperation with other countries, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi stated.
At a press conference held virtually on Friday (July 9), Minister Marsudi noted that since the early months of the pandemic, Indonesia had striven to secure shots for its people.
“Indonesia has secured and received 119,735,200 doses of vaccine, from both bilateral as well as multilateral cooperation,” she remarked.
The minister explained that out of the total figure, Indonesia had procured 108.5 million doses of Sinovac shots and 1.5 million doses from Sinopharm, both pharmaceutical companies from China.
Moreover, Indonesia has received 8,236,800 doses of AstraZeneca shots through the COVAX Facility as well as 998,400 doses from Japan.
The United Arab Emirates has also demonstrated its support to Indonesia’s COVID-19 response, with 500 thousand doses of Sinopharm shots.
“With the vaccines that Indonesia has secured so far, it is able to distribute 49,618 million doses. This is the largest vaccination drive in Asia,” she pointed out.
Marsudi noted that currently, the Indonesian government had continued to make efforts to procure more vaccines in accordance with President Joko Widodo’s directive to expedite the vaccination drive.
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In the coming days, Marsudi stated that Indonesia will be receiving over three million Moderna shots from the United States, which will be the first shipment and will be followed by a second one.
More than 1.1 million AstraZeneca vaccines from Japan are also expected to shortly arrive in the second shipment following the first batch.
More COVID-19 vaccines, both through procurement efforts and dose-sharing, are expected to arrive within this month from Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the UAE, as well as the COVAX Facility.
“This is not an easy endeavor due to supply and manufacturing constraints, and we all know cooperation and collaboration are key for the world to overcome this pandemic,” she emphasized.
Indonesia’s commitment to cooperation and collaboration is also mirrored in Marsudi’s role as one of the co-chairs in the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) Engagement Group.
Since the first doses began rolling out to countries in February, COVAX has shipped more than 93 million doses of vaccine to 133 participants, 81 of which are members of the AMC.
Over 528 million doses have been committed to COVAX by donors through the dose-sharing mechanism, Marsudi stated.
The minister further noted that going forward, there are several ways to demonstrate support for global equitable access to vaccines, including by diversifying vaccine production, especially to developing nations, supporting the TRIPS waiver negotiation in the World Trade Organization, as well as expanding the COVAX vaccine portfolio.
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Translator: Aria Cindyara
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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