The Nusantara Vaccine Ala Terawan, Supported By The DPR. Highlighted By IDI

JAKARTA - For a long time after being reshuffled, former Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto surprised him with the Nusantara Vaccine he developed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The vaccine, which has passed phase two clinical trials, has since become public attention.

The Nusantara Vaccine by Terawan before he was replaced by Budi Gunadi Sadikin as Minister of Health. This vaccine development is in collaboration with AIVITA Biomedical Inc. in California, United States by involving researchers from Gadjah Mada University, Jogjakarta, Sebelas Maret State University (UNS) Solo, and Diponegoro University Semarang and Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital Jakarta.

He claims, this vaccine can produce immunity that provides long-term protection. In addition, in an interview on Wednesday, February 17, he said this vaccine is personal and can be used by all groups, including those with comorbidities or comorbidities.

"Of course, the generalized concept must be changed to the concept of personality individual vaccination," said Terawan.

He explained, the process of making this Nusantara Vaccine went through an incubation process for approximately 7 days. Until later it will become an individual or personal vaccine.

"The point is that every time we have a dendritic cell, we only need to introduce the COVID-19 antigen so that it will have a dendritic cell memory against COVID-19," he said.

Terawan hopes that this vaccine passes in all stages of the trial and gets permission from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) and halal certification from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) so that it can be mass produced.

In the process of mass production, he believes that in a month there will be 10 million doses of vaccine that can be produced. "And it is expected to create vaccine independence," he said.

Regarding this vaccine, Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) Siti Nadia Tarmizi said that her party is still studying and waiting for the clinical trial results of the vaccine.

"We are waiting, yes, the results of clinical trials and later recommendations from experts," he said.

He said that the Ministry of Health supports the vaccine developed by the former Head of the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital, but what needs to be remembered is that this Nusantara vaccine is still in the clinical trial stage.

"In general, the Ministry of Health supports the development of vaccines and anything that is the work of the nation's children but this is still in the realm of clinical trials," he said.

Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Parliament, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, asked all parties to provide support because the vaccine made by the nation's children would be a breakthrough and innovation.

"The COVID-19 vaccine initiated by Dr. Terawan is personalized using dendritic cells and can be mass produced in a short time. This is a breakthrough and innovation offered by the nation's children," Dasco said in a written statement to reporters.

The DPR, he said, appreciates and welcomes the process of developing the Nusantara Vaccine, which is currently entering the second phase of clinical trials. Moreover, since the beginning, members of parliament encouraged the COVID-19 vaccine that was made and developed by the nation's children.

"Therefore, we ask all parties to fully support the manufacture of this Nusantara Vaccine so that it is truly clinically tested and then can effectively suppress the spread of the virus, it is safe for the community, and also tested its halalness," he said.

Deputy Chairman of Commission IX DPR RI Charles Honoris also appreciated Nusantara Vaccine. He congratulated Terawan and his team on successfully completing the first phase of clinical trials to develop the vaccine.

"We would like to congratulate Dr. Terawan and the Nusantara Vaccine research team who have successfully completed the first phase of clinical trials. Of course we appreciate it," he said.

He considered that this vaccine has the potential to be a game changer because it has different methods and technologies from existing vaccines. So it is hoped that, in the future, if it has passed further clinical trials and is ready for use, this vaccine can be used for people who have comorbid diseases.

"We appreciate their hard work and are at the same time proud of the discovery of the nation's children who have the potential to become a game changer in terms of vaccination against Covid19. As has been widely reported, this Nusantara vaccine uses a different method and technology from the different vaccines," he said.

"Hopefully the Nusantara vaccine can pass the next stages of clinical trials well," added the PDIP politician.

Despite getting support, criticism actually came from the Chairperson of the COVID-19 Task Force for the Executive Board of the Indonesian Doctors Association (PB IDI) Zubairi Djoerban. He asked Terawan not to just claim the vaccine's efficacy and asked for evidence of the claims that had been submitted to the public.

According to him, the claim for the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine must be proven by clinical trials. Meanwhile, the current Nusantara Vaccine has only gone through one phase. So, in order to prevent confusion in the community, Zubairi asked that this kind of claim must be accompanied by scientific evidence.

"The archipelago vaccine is claimed to create lifelong antibodies. Where is the evidence? There is no data on the second phase of clinical trials, let alone phase three. So, if you want to talk about claims, of course you have to use data. It must be with evidence based medicine. via his Twitter account, @ProfesorZubairi, as quoted by VOI.

Zubairi said he fully supports eradication efforts such as vaccines. However, he asked for evidence or data from the efficacy claims mentioned by Terawan regarding the Nusantara Vaccine so that the public would not be noisy.

This is because until now world experts have never carelessly mentioned that antibodies from existing vaccines such as Moderna, Sinovac, or Pfizer can last a certain time.

"There is no claim that they convey that the antibodies from these vaccines can last six months, one year, let alone a lifetime," he said.

"Once again, I support eradication efforts, such as vaccines. But show the data to the public. Let me not be rowdy. The influenza vaccine alone lasts for about a year because it is affected by the virus mutation," he concluded.