Airlangga Hartarto Affirms Merah Putih Vaccines And Nusantara Vaccines Are Considered To Anticipate Omicron Variants

Airlangga Hartarto said the Merah Putih vaccine and the Nusantara vaccine were considered as boosters to deal with the omicron variant. (special photo)

JAKARTA - In accordance with President Joko Widodo's orders, the government is targeting the delivery of the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine (booster) to the wider community starting in January 2022. A booster vaccination is considered important because research has shown that the ability to neutralize the post-infection virus and COVID-19 vaccination has decreased due to the Omicron variant. The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, in a press conference Monday, December 20, explained that the Merah Putih Vaccines and Nusantara Vaccines are also considered as boosters according to the President's direction.

The Merah Putih Vaccines in question are vaccines developed by SOEs with Baylor Collage, then vaccines in collaboration between Airlangga University and Biotis Pharmaceutical, Kalbe Farma with Genexine, and Nusantara Vaccines.

The government's decision to include the Nusantara Vaccine aka Vaknus as one of the booster vaccines is certainly welcomed by the public. The vaccine, which was initiated by the former Minister of Health, Terawan Agus Putranto, has been discussed by the public for a long time because of its efficacy and the method it uses.

"Thank you, Mr. President Jokowi, for including the Nusantara Vaccine, which is the work of the nation's children, as a booster for the Indonesian people," said Dar Edi Yoga, a senior journalist who founded the Beranda Ruang Diskusi, in his press statement, Tuesday, December 21.

Following the government's announcement, Yoga hopes that the distribution permit for Vaknus will be issued as soon as phase 3 clinical trials are completed. "The presence of Vaknus can certainly be one of the foreign exchange earnings for the country if Vaknus is ordered by the international community. Moreover, he is able to fight various variants of COVID-19 and only needs to be injected once for a lifetime," said Dar Edi Yoga.

According to Yoga, currently, Singapore is also conducting research using the dendritic cell system as did dr. Terawan to Vaknus. "We are already in the clinical trial phase, while neighboring countries are just starting to do research, such as that done by Linfa Wang, a virologist, who works at Duke-NUS Medical School, a collaboration between Duke and the National University of Singapore," Yoga explained.

The joy of welcoming Vaknus also came from the regions, as conveyed by religious leaders from West Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands. "We are very grateful if we can get the Nusantara Vaccine because we are comorbid sufferers and have been waiting for it for a long time," said Pastor Paulus Djoko Santoso.

Meanwhile, the Main Researcher of the Nusantara Vaccine Team, Colonel CKM Dr. Jonny SpPD-KGH, MKes, MM explained, someone who has received a full dose of conventional vaccine can receive Vaknus. "That's much better because the vaccine given by conventional vaccines is to generate antibody immunity. Meanwhile, the Nusantara vaccine that we provide aims to generate cellular immunity," he said.

Until now, research has shown that Vaknus has an efficacy rate of 97 percent for about 7 months after phase 2 clinical trials. This means that it is far above conventional vaccines which have efficacy below 30 percent. No wonder the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto emphasized that the Merah Putih Vaccine and the Nusantara Vaccine will be considered as a booster to counter the Omicron Variant.