Indonesia Gets 2 Million Free Sinovac Vaccine Doses From China Today

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi/screenshot

JAKARTA - Indonesia has returned with 2 million doses of the Sinovac brand of COVID-19 vaccine today. The arrival of the 78th stage of the vaccine which arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport is a free gift from China.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi explained that 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine were obtained from the Chinese government and another 1 million doses were donated from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. company.

"Today, 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine, aided by the PRC (People's Republic of China) government, have arrived. Today also arrived 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine, assisted by the Sinovac vaccine company, which are given free of charge," Retno said in a virtual press conference, Friday, September 24.

With the arrival of this vaccine, the total number of vaccines that have arrived in Indonesia is 273,603,790 doses, both in the form of finished vaccines and in the form of bulk vaccines.

Previously, on September 21, Indonesia had also received 200 thousand doses of the vaccine under the Sinopharm brand from the Red Cross Society of China.

"For that, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for the vaccine support provided by the PRC government, the Sinovac company, and also the Chinese Red Cross Society," said Retno.

Continuing, China's Head for Indonesia Xiao Qian said that this support was an additional support for handling the pandemic from the PRC Government, following the donation of 120 ventilators, 400 oxygen generators, and other medical equipment that had been given last August.

“Until now, Sinovac and Sinopharm have sent 215 million doses of vaccine to Indonesia. It accounts for almost 20 percent of all vaccines exported by China in the same time period, and more than 80 percent of the total vaccines that Indonesia obtained,” said Xian Qian.

Xiao Qian said that since the beginning of the pandemic, China and Indonesia have supported each other's efforts to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective countries.

“Under the strong leadership of President Joko Widodo and the efforts of all Indonesians, China believes Indonesia will be able to deal with the pandemic in the near future and restore socio-economic growth as soon as possible. China will continue to support Indonesia and its efforts in dealing with the pandemic," he explained.