Indonesia Receives 1.2 Million Sinovac Vaccine Phase 182

JAKARTA - Indonesia has again received the arrival of the 182nd phase of the vaccine, which is the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, which was donated from COVAX. The total vaccine that arrived at this stage was 1,236,000 doses.

"With the arrival of the Sinovac vaccine, the total vaccines that have arrived in the country in the form of bulk or raw materials or vaccines are 458,069,415," said Director General of Information and Public Communication (IKP) of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Usman Kansong, quoted by Antara, Wednesday. , December 29.

According to Usman, the arrival of the vaccine at the end of 2021 marks the consistency of the Indonesian government in its efforts to meet the vaccine needs for the community.

The government continues to strive for the arrival of vaccines, both through bilateral and multilateral channels.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Indonesia has been actively establishing international and multilateral cooperation, including through the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator COVAX Facility.

COVAX or COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access is a global initiative aimed at equal access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Usman emphasized that all the vaccines that came were part of the effort to fulfill the vaccine needs for the community.

With a population of more than 200 million, the number of vaccines needed is also very large. Until the end of 2021, the Government will continue to bring in vaccines to ensure the availability of vaccines in Indonesia is sufficient.

"Therefore, from the start, the Indonesian government made diplomatic efforts to quickly and smoothly get access to vaccines," said Usman.

He emphasized that sufficient vaccine stock is very important in the success of the national vaccination program.

In addition, the Government also hopes for an active role from the community to participate in this vaccination program, in order to build herd immunity in the country.

"The combination of vaccination and discipline in carrying out health protocols is the key to fighting this COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

Usman added that in 2022 Indonesia will start a booster vaccine, therefore the stock of vaccines will continue to be added.

There are two scenarios prepared for the COVID-19 booster vaccine which is planned to start in January 2022.

First, the booster vaccine is provided free of charge for the elderly and the BPJS Health Contribution Assistance Recipient (PBI) category using the APBN.

Second, booster vaccines will be provided with a paid scheme for categories of vaccine recipients outside the PBI, namely non-elderly citizens who do not participate in BPJS Kesehatan.

Non-APBN booster vaccines will be available from pharmaceutical companies which will be sold directly to the public.

"Currently booster vaccines have not been allowed, hope the public obeys it," he said.