"We really appreciate the mutual achievement from all parties. Over the last two years, we have been able to show our achievement in COVID-19 vaccination," Himawan noted during an online discussion entitled “Book Review on COVID-19 Vaccination” in Jakarta on Monday.
At the beginning of the pandemic, many people doubted that Indonesia would complete the COVID-19 vaccination in 2021–2022, he added.
In terms of the vaccine supply, Indonesia imported and supplied 429,238,100 vaccine doses in 2021, with the highest supply reaching 82.7 million doses in December 2021.
"We have reached the supply of 82.7 million doses in a month; this was quite a large number, where in the previous period, we have never reached this big number," Himawan said.
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The rate of immunization in Indonesia was supported by the availability of vaccine supplies, he added. Therefore, vaccine availability is a valuable takeaway for the future.
Regarding the development of vaccines, Himawan said that Indonesia is not only depending on conventional platforms but also focusing on the latest platforms, such as mRNA or viral vectors, which are expected to go into production in the next two or three months.
In addition, several vaccine products are in the development stage, including the Merah Putih vaccine, which is an inactivated virus and protein subunit vaccine.
Vaccines are also being obtained through bilateral cooperation, including Bio Farma-Baylor (IndoVac), Etana-Abogen Walvax, Etana-CanSino Biologics Inc, and AstraZeneca-Combiphar. In addition, the government is encouraging the availability of halal vaccines.
To ensure sustainable vaccine provision in the future, Himawan outlined five key pillars: research and development, manufacturing, financing, supply chain, and vaccine uptake.
"In the future, we will develop this ecosystem to support vaccine resilience to create a sustainable ecosystem for new vaccine discoveries," he said.
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Translator: Suci Nurhaliza, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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