As G20 President, Indonesia Promises To Expand Access To COVID-19 Vaccines For Poor Countries

Illustration (Photo: Doc. East Java Provincial Government)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has officially become the President of the G20 for the 2022 period after receiving the baton of leadership from Italy. In next year's work plan, Indonesia is committed to promoting equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor and developing countries.

Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Ministry of Finance, Febrio Kacaribu, said that one of the strategic agendas was a tangible manifestation of Indonesia's contribution to global life.

"How the G20 countries gather together to solve the pandemic, ensure that vaccine distribution is also maintained, not only for developed countries but also for developing countries, including poor countries", he said as quoted by the official website on Wednesday, November 3.

According to Febrio, access to health, including equal access to vaccines, especially for poor and developing countries, is very important.

“Vaccinations in developed countries are abundant. The majority are already above 70 percent, even the supply of the vaccine is too much. Meanwhile, in developing countries and especially poor countries, such as in Africa, it is less than 10 percent have been vaccinated. When we want to recover together and all countries must be free from the pandemic", he said.

For information, in addition to being the President of the G20, Indonesia is believed to be the co-chair of the task force for world health security together with Italy.

“Through collaboration between countries, it will be clear who produces the vaccine, whose health system must be strengthened. This is what we want to see at the G20 and this is the central role of Indonesia as a leader", he said.

Furthermore, Sri Mulyani's subordinate explained that Indonesia's success in managing risk when the delta variant appears can be used as a lesson for other countries. However, Indonesia also needs to increase the acceleration of vaccination, which is now around 30 percent.

“Our vaccinations are only around 30 percent. We will be able to achieve vaccination of around 70 percent around the beginning of 2022. This is also the fastest vaccination in the world. We are now at about 1.5 million to 2 million vaccinations per day. No country as big as Indonesia can vaccinate so quickly”, she said.

To note, in the G20 Presidency, it is stated that the government will encourage and strengthen efforts to recover the global economy in an inclusive, strong, and sustainable manner.