Indonesia Allocates IDR 77 Trillion Per Year For COVID-19 Vaccination, Erick Thohir: It Is The Largest In The World

JAKARTA - State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Minister Erick Thohir said the government has spent a budget of IDR 77 trillion per year for the COVID-19 vaccination program. According to Erick, the amount budget prepared by the Indonesian government is the largest in the world.

Furthermore, Erick said the budget was needed to pursue the vaccination target of up to 70 percent of the population. He guaranteed that there was no commercialization carried out by the government in the distribution of this vaccine.

"So don't look at the context, the government is here looking for margins or profits in the distribution of vaccines and I think the biggest in the world is Rp77 trillion", he said in a virtual press conference, Wednesday, May 19.

Erick emphasized that all people have the right to get free mutual cooperation vaccines. However, the limited availability of the COVID-19 vaccine has made the government have to give a priority scale in the distribution process.

For people or companies who can afford the COVID-19 vaccine at a price of IDR 300.000 per dose. Then add the injection fee of IDR 100.000. Erick said that the mutual cooperation vaccine is available with two brands, namely Sinopharm and Cansino.

"For Sinopharm, the number is 15 million doses or 7.5 million people as of December. Meanwhile, Cansino has 5 million one injection, so there are a total of 12.5 million vaccines", he explained.

On the same occasion, the Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Rosan Roeslani explained that the mutual cooperation vaccine that employers provide to their employees is free of charge from the worker's salary.

However, said Rosan, companies that would pay for them to the government were also given the same options to reduce the budget deficit.

"This is a form of the private sector working together to alleviate the pandemic. Together with the government, in this situation it can have a positive impact on economic recovery", he explained.

Furthermore, Rosan said the mutual cooperation vaccine is optional. So, there is no compulsion for companies to join this program. He said that if the company wants to participate in the free vaccine from the government, it is also allowed.

"This is optional, so there is no compulsion to join this program. If it is free, please help, please help the government. How can I allocate IDR 77 trillion every year? So this is an option, not mandatory", he said.