Millions Of Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine Expired, Indonesia Selectively Accepts Dose Sharing Offer

Screenshot of the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine in Indonesia. (YouTube/Presidential Secretariat)

JAKARTA - Indonesia will selectively accept the offer of dose sharing for the COVID-19 vaccine, as millions of vaccine doses expire due to their short shelf life.

Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices at the Ministry of Health, Lucia Rizka Andalusia, said in a meeting with the Indonesian House of Representatives, of the 19.3 million doses that expired between January and March, 97 percent was donated, citing Reuters March 30.

Most of the expired doses are AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines. It is known that Indonesia received donations from the global COVAX vaccine distribution scheme as well as bilateral relations with countries such as Australia and the United States.

Meanwhile, Director General of America and Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I Gede Ngurah Swajaya at the same meeting said Indonesia would stop accepting donations until April, informing donor countries that donated vaccines must have at least two-thirds of their shelf life.

Confirmed separately, the Secretary for the Team for the Acceleration of Economic Recovery (TPPE) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lintang Paramitasari, confirmed that Indonesia was stopping the reception of dose-sharing vaccines until April. Mainly, because of the limited storage capacity and adjusting to the vaccination rate.

"Our total receipts (data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and KCPEN) are around 505.5 million doses, of which 125,863,185 doses (25 percent) were obtained by grants, either through the Multilateral (COVAX Facility) scheme or bilateral dose-sharing schemes," he explained to VOI Thursday. March 31.

"(Details) multilateral 99,139,705 doses and bilateral 26,723,480 doses. However, we are still receiving vaccines for which there is a commitment to be sent from Covax (Pfizer)," he continued.

He further explained that the total number of expired vaccines from January 2021 to March 2022 reached 7,439,888, based on data from the Directorate General of Disease Prevention and Control (P2P) of the Ministry of Health.

"In order, AstraZeneca 3,717,146 doses, Sinovac 1,627,506, Pfizer 1,172,586, Moderna 853,730 and Covovax 68,920. This is not classified as a grant or purchase. It only mentions the type of vaccine," explained Mita.

He added, to be more selective in receiving dose sharing, by paying attention to vaccine shelf-life, storage capacity and vaccination rate.

Meanwhile, the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which runs the COVAX program with the WHO's World Health Organization, told Reuters COVAX "only ships doses that have been received by countries with full knowledge of the vaccine type, estimated delivery plan and vaccine shelf life".