Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), 150 thousand doses already arrived yesterday and more will come graduallyJakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Health Ministry will obtain 250 thousand doses of the meningitis vaccine in October 2022, which will be prioritized for Umrah pilgrims in the country.
The vaccines should get the approval of the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) at the start of October before being distributed, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin informed here on Thursday.
Meanwhile, president director of state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma (Persero), Honesti Basyir, said that the meningitis vaccine doses will be provided gradually in the country, starting this month.
"Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), 150 thousand doses already arrived yesterday and more will come gradually," he noted.
The meningitis vaccines that have arrived in Indonesia are currently being processed so that they can receive a release permit from BPOM before they are provided to Umrah pilgrims.
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According to Basyir, the health SOE is committed to obtaining a total of 600 thousand doses of the meningitis vaccine until December 2022.
The vaccines will be sourced from a Chinese pharmaceutical company under a goods import permit issued by BPOM.
"Bio Farma has not yet produced meningitis vaccines, but we are cooperating with producers from overseas (through imports)," he explained.
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He acknowledged that there has been a scarcity of meningitis vaccines lately in several health service facilities, which has led to complaints from a number of Umrah pilgrims.
The scarcity has been triggered by the fact that Bio Farma and a number of partner countries overseas are focused on efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the scarcity can be attributed to the distribution process and administration requirements from related authorities, he informed.
The production time gap has reached around five to six months because of this, he explained.
Earlier, at a hearing streamed on YouTube, Tuesday, BPOM head Penny K. Lukito said that her agency is seeking alternative procurement channels for obtaining meningitis vaccines.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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