Indonesia Saves IDR 13 Trillion From Bilateral Cooperation On COVID-19 Vaccines

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that bilateral cooperation in the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines in Indonesia has saved the state budget of Rp. 13 trillion.

"This savings is due to the effective bilateral cooperation that Indonesia has established with external parties since the beginning of the pandemic," said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, quoted by Antara, Thursday, December 30.

Nadia said Indonesia received many vaccine donations, such as from the COVAX facility and from friendly countries such as Japan, the People's Republic of China, Australia, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands.

On Thursday, Indonesia also received 438,750 doses of vaccine in the 183rd stage of arrival. The vaccine is in the form of Pfizer which is a COVAX donation.

"So the total vaccines that have arrived, either in bulk form or raw materials and ready-made vaccines, are 458,508,165 doses," he said.

He ensured that the government continued its efforts to bring in vaccines through various schemes. Indonesia managed to save a budget of IDR 13 trillion for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

"The COVID-19 vaccine budget remains of Rp. 13 trillion in 2021, as evidence that the government has succeeded in saving the budget and reducing the state's financial burden in handling COVID-19," he said.

Nadia added that the vaccine that arrived today will be immediately distributed to areas that need vaccine stocks for the implementation of the vaccination program.

To date, Indonesia has exceeded the WHO target for vaccination achievements. Even so, there are some areas whose achievements still need to be optimized.

For this reason, Nadia emphasized that the central government encourages regions where vaccination achievement is still low or has not yet reached the target, to make extra efforts to increase it.

"This includes providing understanding and inviting people who are still reluctant to be vaccinated. Especially for the elderly group who are categorized as vulnerable and at high risk," he said.