Now, we are engaged in the development of the Red and White vaccine, and maybe, we will produce it in May or June next year.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan confirmed that Indonesia will produce two types of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2022 specifically to meet domestic requirements.

"We have encouraged to build the vaccine industry here. One vaccine type -- the mRNA -- will be produced in April 2022 by Indonesian companies collaborating with firms from China," Pandjaitan noted at the meeting of the Association of Indonesian Entrepreneurs here on Tuesday.

In addition to mRNA, Indonesia will produce the Red and White vaccine in the second quarter of 2022, he confirmed.

The government is cooperating with five universities and two institutions on the Red and White vaccine project, the minister noted.

The five universities are Airlangga University, Gadjah Mada University, University of Indonesia, Padjajaran University, and Bandung Institute of Technology, while the two institutions involved are the Eijkman Institute of Molecular Biology and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

Pandjaitan noted that the Eijkman Institute was cooperating with state-run pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma, while Airlangga University was collaborating with PT Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia.

"Now, we are engaged in the development of the Red and White vaccine, and maybe, we will produce it in May or June next year," Pandjaitan affirmed.

Quoting the health ministry’s data, Indonesia has currently administered 90 million vaccine doses and is ranked ninth in the world in terms of the number of vaccine injections.

The minister noted that in August, the government aims to administer up to 100 million vaccine doses to people and reach the target of 200 million vaccine doses by the end of 2021.

The goal of COVID-19 vaccination is to achieve herd immunity to fully protect and strengthen the immune system while maintaining productivity and reducing the social and economic impacts on the public, he stated.
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Translator: Sugiharto P, Kenzu T
Editor: Suharto
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