Erick Thohir: 93 Million BPJS Health Participants Will Receive Free Government Vaccine Assistance

Minister of BUMN, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Ministry of BUMN)

JAKARTA - BUMN Minister Erick Thohir said that the government will involve BPJS Kesehatan in distributing COVID-19 vaccine aid, especially in providing data on potential recipients. This vaccine aid, will only be given to people who are in dire need.

"There is a vaccine that is indeed aid from the government through BPJS Health data, of which 93 million people are in dire need. It really needs it," he said in a video conference with journalists, Wednesday, September 2.

Erick explained, later the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine will use two schemes, namely paid vaccination and assistance from the government. This government vaccine is free.

Furthermore, Erick emphasized that the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine with a paid scheme was chosen by the government to reduce the burden on the state budget. This paid vaccine is also intended for people who can afford it.

"But we also involve an independent program because we know that there are also many parties who can afford to buy. We do not want this whole burden to be borne by the government," he said.

Previously, the government had established a distribution scheme for the COVID-19 vaccine, which is planned to start mass production in December-January 2021. There are two schemes set, namely free and paid vaccines.

The free vaccine is intended for BPJS Kesehatan participants. Meanwhile, paid or independent vaccines for high-income people. The government has estimated the price of independent vaccines per person.

So what price must the community pay for vaccination? Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) and Chairman of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (PEN) Erick Thohir said the initial calculation of the price of vaccines was IDR 365,000 to IDR 438,000.

However, said Erick, this figure is a rough calculation. Currently, PT Bio Farma as the party that developed the vaccine from China is still reviewing the price.

"Our initial calculation, this vaccine costs 25 US dollars (equivalent to Rp365,000) to 30 US dollars (Rp438,000) per person. However, Bio Farma is recalculating how much it costs. Later one person will be injected twice. with a break of 2 weeks, "said Erick after conducting the RDP with Commission VI of the DPR, Thursday, August 27.

Erick explained, the determination of the vaccine price per person is in accordance with the price of vaccine raw materials per dose of US $ 8 or the equivalent of Rp. 116,000 which the government purchased from a pharmaceutical company from China, Sinovac.