"We are still using the same type of vaccine, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)," Tarmizi confirmed in Jakarta on Thursday.
Indonesia currently has more than 130 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, which have been distributed to 34 provinces, she informed.
They are still sufficient to fully inoculate people with the same vaccine, she said in response to a WHO announcement allowing use of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines for the second dose after the first dose of AstraZeneca in some situations.
According to an infographic posted on the www.who.int webpage, research is underway to understand whether COVID-19 vaccines can be mixed and matched safely and effectively.
Emerging data suggests that combining a first dose of AstraZeneca with a second dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) is safe and effective when supplies are limited, as per the WHO.
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"In the current situation in Indonesia, the stock is still sufficient for injections with the same type of vaccine," Tarmizi said.
However, vaccines of different brands were used to give booster shots to some health workers, she noted.
Earlier at the Joint Working Meeting of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives on Wednesday (August 25, 2021), Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that around 450 thousand or 34 percent health workers in Indonesia have received the third COVID-19 vaccine dose.
The provinces of Bali and Riau Islands have recorded the highest coverage of the third dose of COVID-19 vaccination in human resources in the health sector, he said.
In the last two weeks, there has been an increase in the coverage of the third dose of vaccination for health workers, as previously they were worried about the impact of mixing different types of vaccines, he added.
"At the first time, we have not been able to get full acceptance from health workers, for fear of an impact, especially if the vaccine is mixed (from different manufacturers)," he said.
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Translator: Andi F, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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