"We are conducting clinical trials for primary vaccines one and two. However, since vaccination coverage in Indonesia is quite large, we are focusing this SOE vaccine for booster and children," State-run pharmaceutical company's president director stated at the kick-off of the Phase III Clinical Test for the SOE COVID-19 Vaccine in Jakarta on Thursday.
Basyir later pointed out that Indonesia still lacked children's vaccines since not many vaccines had been licensed for this age group.
The third phase of clinical trial of the SOE Vaccine will be given to 4,050 recipients, with an age limit of 18 to 70 years. Once the vaccine receives an emergency use authorization (EUA), Bio Farma will start producing the vaccine in July 2022.
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"We have prepared a fairly large production capacity for this SOE vaccine, amounting to 120 million doses per year," Basyir revealed.
Meanwhile, SOE Minister Erick Thohir stated that the government was encouraging the transformation of state-owned companies, including Bio Farma, to become more productive.
He is keen that the transformation of SOEs would help Indonesia in the science and modern health industry to realize domestic health sovereignty.
"This pandemic will repeat itself again and human history proves it. I really hope this collaboration will continue to complete the transformation of SOEs,” Thohir stated.
Currently, the SOEs Ministry is pushing for a breakthrough in herbal medicine to become an alternative in an effort to reduce dependence on medicinal raw materials.
"(This is) not only Indonesia but also other countries. We cannot let our people to seek treatment abroad. We will strive for this SOEs transformation," he emphasized.
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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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