Routine vaccination program must run and the COVID-19 vaccination program must also run. We must collaborate with stakeholders or the local governments, if the facilities are lacking. It means that the facilities must be added
Jakarta (ANTARA) - PT Bio Farma (Persero) has asked local governments to add COVID-19 vaccine storage facilities to aid the distribution of vaccines.



"Facilities must also be prepared in each storage place, be it in provinces, districts, and cities, to health centers. This vaccination program must continue. However, the capacity at each vaccine delivery point is limited," spokesperson for Bio Farma, Bambang Heriyanto, said during an online discussion monitored here on Tuesday.



The vaccine distribution chain process had existed before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Indonesia, he pointed out. In the past, only diphtheria, polio, and measles vaccines were supplied, he added.


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Now, with the addition of COVID-19 vaccines, the cooling space and facilities need to be added, he said. Moreover, currently, the distribution of vaccines, especially COVID-19 vaccine, has reached up to hundreds of millions of doses distributed to all regions of Indonesia, he noted.



"Routine vaccination program must run and the COVID-19 vaccination program must also run. We must collaborate with stakeholders or the local governments, if the facilities are lacking. It means that the facilities must be added," Heriyanto said.

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On the other hand, there are challenge that must be faced is the distribution of vaccines to remote areas, he said. The reason is that the types of COVID-19 vaccines available in Indonesia have different storage requirements, he added.



The Sinovac vaccine needs be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius, Moderna at minus 20 degrees Celsius, and Pfizer at minus 70 degrees Celsius, he elaborated.



The Indonesian government launched nationwide vaccinations on January 13, 2021 to stem the transmission of COVID-19. President Widodo was the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the country.


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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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