Indonesia Receives 5.7 Million Doses Of Pfizer Vaccine

JAKARTA - Director General of Information and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics Usman Kansong said that Indonesia had again received the arrival of three stages of the COVID-19 vaccine, which arrived on Saturday, November 20 - Monday, November 22.

The total number of vaccines that arrived this time was 5,758,740 million doses of Pfizer vaccine.

“The vaccines for the 126, 127, and 128 stages have landed in various cities in Indonesia and will be directly distributed to the Health Offices in the regions. It is hoped that each dose of the vaccine can be immediately used for the protection of public health," said Usman in a written statement quoted by Antara, Sunday, November 21.

The arrival of vaccine stages 126 and 127 are donations from the US Government through COVAX. Vaccine phase 126 totaling 2,632,500 doses of vaccine made by Pfizer, arrived on Saturday, November 20.

Meanwhile, stage 127 is the vaccine of the same brand, a total of 866,970 doses of the finished vaccine is planned to arrive on Monday, November 22.

"The Indonesian government expresses its gratitude to the US Government for its support in the form of 3.5 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, which is a tangible manifestation of the strength of good relations between the two countries," said Usman.

He explained, in a meeting between the two heads of state in Scotland some time ago, President Joko Widodo expressed his appreciation directly to US President Joe Biden for cooperation in the health sector during the pandemic, starting from receiving vaccine stocks through a dose-sharing mechanism, ventilators, medicines. therapeutic drugs, to other medical devices.

Meanwhile, the vaccine that arrived at stage 128 was Pfizer vaccine with a total of 2,259,270 doses obtained through direct purchase.

The vaccine landed on Sunday, November 21 and arrived in 4 cities, namely Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta Airport), Semarang (Ahmad Yani Airport), Surabaya (Juanda Airport), and Balikpapan (Sepinggan Airport).

Phase 128 vaccines received in Jakarta will be sent to the West Kalimantan Health Office, South Kalimantan Health Office, Central Kalimantan Health Office, Riau Health Office, South Sulawesi Health Office, North Sumatra Health Office, South Sumatra Health Office, Banten Health Office, and West Java Health Office. Meanwhile, those arriving in 3 other cities will be forwarded to the local provincial health office.

With the arrival of stages 126, 127, and 128, the total number of vaccines that Indonesia has received is around 355.7 million doses, both in finished and bulk forms.

The government continues to accelerate the acceleration of vaccination. The total vaccine distributed from January to October 2021, has more than 267 million doses.

In addition to guaranteeing the availability of vaccine stocks, efforts to accelerate are also carried out by providing education to the public, especially for those who are still hesitant and reluctant to be vaccinated.

"We emphasize that all the COVID-19 vaccines used are safe and efficacious, and have obtained BPOM permission," said Usman.

Citing the president's directive, he also reminded that recently, although small, there has been an increase in the number of cases in Indonesia.

"This should make us aware and remain disciplined in carrying out health protocols. The easing of mobility restrictions should not mean that the pandemic is over. So we must remain wise when deciding to travel and remain disciplined in the process," said Usman.