"We have not fully received all of our vaccine doses. Only 130 million doses arrived out of the total of 426 million doses," Tarmizi noted in a press release this Monday.
The spokesperson remarked that out of the 130 million doses, 68 million were distributed to all Indonesian regions. Seven provinces in Java and Bali received 34 million doses of the vaccine, while the other 34 million were delivered to 27 provinces outside Java and Bali.
"Vaccines will be gradually distributed based on the needs of each region," Tarmizi emphasized.
In addition, the spokesperson explained that the number of vaccines distributed to healthcare facilities will be adjusted on the basis of reports of vaccine stocks and the speed of vaccination in the regions.
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The spokesperson remarked that Bio Farma had stored 65 million vaccine doses, of which 30 million were raw materials ready to be used for production in the next four weeks.
Indonesia is also scheduled to receive the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines every month. In August, Indonesia will obtain 15 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine.
"We are optimistic that the Covax facility would help us with seven million doses. We will also independently purchase three million doses of AstraZeneca," she stated.
The Ministry of Health expected 35-40 million vaccine doses to arrive in Indonesia in August 2021, including two to three million doses of Pfizer and Novavax, Tarmizi noted.
Currently, public interest in vaccination has grown in the wake of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia since last month.
"We targeted to vaccinate the age group of 12 years and above. More people showed interest in getting the injection since the COVID-19 vaccination certificate is a mandatory requirement for long-distance travel," Tarmizi noted in her closing statement.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta Sulistiy
Editor: Suharto
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