PKS Reminds Merger Of Eijkman To BRIN Not To Make Red And White Vaccine Research Stalled

Illustration-(Photo: DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VII DPR, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction, Mulyanto, reminded that the polemic on the institutional status of the Eijkman Bio Molecular Research Center (PRBM) which will be merged into the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) did not stop the development of the Red and White vaccine.

He asked the government to ensure that the domestic vaccine research process continues. According to him, the Red and White vaccine is the mandate of the Indonesian people in dealing with COVID-19.

Therefore, said Mulyanto, this effort should not be stopped just because there is a change in institutional status.

"The government must not be careless, it needs to think about this carefully. Do not let the strategic programs mandated by Eijkman PRBM, for example to develop the Red and White Vaccine research, become stagnant or be abandoned," said Mulyanto in his statement, Monday, January 3.

On the other hand, the PKS politician is worried that the dismissal of more than 100 scientists and the relocation of Eijkman's PRBM laboratory away from the RSCM/FKUI will cause problems for the continuation of the Red and White Vaccine Research led by PRBM Eijkman and SOE Bio Farma.

Because according to Mulyanto, it is not easy to find replacements for these scientists in a short time. Likewise, the laboratory's strategic position is close to hospitals and medical faculties, so that access to samples, materials, tools, and medical human resources is very easy.

"This will delay the production schedule for the Eijkman Red and White Vaccine," he said.