8 Million Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine Left, The Equivalent Of 20 Injection Days!

The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo when vaccinated against COVID-19. (Photo: Doc. Setkab)

JAKARTA - The government through the Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed that Indonesia's stock of the COVID-19 vaccine is now at 8 million doses.

According to the Minister of Health, out of the 8 million vaccines, 3 million of them are domestic production through Bio Farma. While the rest is procured from abroad and a number of foreign producers.

In his calculations, the rate of vaccine injection had touched the highest figure of 500,000 doses per day. However, as stock availability began to run low and the Ramadan period, the speed of vaccine injection decreased with an average injection of around 350,000 to 400,000 doses per day.

"If our current stock is 8 million, and injections of 400,000 a day, then we can administer vaccines for up to 20 days," he said during a virtual meeting on Friday, April 23.

Minister of Health added that one of the obstacles in the field is related to the vaccine production process which is quite time consuming.

"It is a bit tight (current vaccine stock), because the Bio Farma vaccine production cycle is about one month after receiving raw materials," he said.

The Minister of Health explained that to date Indonesia has obtained 26.2 million doses of vaccine. Of that number 18 million have been distributed in the vaccination program. Meanwhile, the remainder is the current stock which is still being distributed by the government.

In total, Indonesia plans to procure 426 million COVID-19 vaccines from various efforts. Meanwhile, the agreed amount is 225 million doses.

The government, called the Minister of Health, continues to strive for various ways to be able to secure the supply of vaccines so that they can meet the initial projections for procurement.

"But indeed the delivery schedule can shift depending on logistical issues, production, and sometimes priority issues from the producing country," he said.

"We are also still waiting for the free vaccine option from Gavi, which has committed 11 million doses," continued the Minister of Health.

Separately, the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani at the State Budget Press Conference which was held on Thursday, April 22, stated that the Health budget that could be contained in the 2021 National Economic Recovery (PEN) program amounted to IDR176.3 trillion. Meanwhile, the realization until March 2021 was IDR 12.4 trillion or around 7 percent of the ceiling provided.

Meanwhile, the use of the budget for the COVID-19 vaccination program is said to have drained state funds of no less than IDR 36 trillion.