Ministry Of Health Will Destroy Expired COVID-19 Vaccines In A Number Of Areas

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health will destroy expired COVID-19 vaccines in a number of areas so as not to interfere with the delivery of new vaccines.

"Most of the vaccine grants and a small portion of the vaccines that we bought have expired, and they are still stored in refrigerators throughout the province, so if we want to send a new vaccine, it will be hampered," said Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin was quoted by Antara, Tuesday, May 31.

According to him, it is important to immediately destroy the COVID-19 vaccine so that it doesn't hamper future vaccination programs because the storage area is full.

The Minister of Health said the destruction of the expired COVID-19 vaccine had received permission from President Joko Widodo.

"The President's direction is that the extermination is carried out in accordance with applicable regulations and accompanied by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), the Attorney General, and other law enforcement officers so that they are made more transparent and open, and the procedures are also in accordance with applicable regulations," he said.

The Minister of Health stated that there are two factors that cause COVID-19 vaccines to expire. First, donated vaccines have a short expiration date.

"Donated vaccines are generally old stock vaccines in developed countries. When vaccines are available, they buy them first. Once they are injected, not all of them run out, they will expire soon so this is what is donated. So almost all of the donated vaccines have an 'expired date' short," he said.

The average expiration date for COVID-19 vaccines from donations is relatively short, between 1-3 months.

"But because at the beginning of the year we felt the need and it was free, the vaccine was good, why not," he said.

The second factor, he continued, was a slowdown or decrease in the rate of vaccination in the country after the COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesian society reached more than 70 percent of the total population.

"The reality is that we also see that in other developed countries, when we get 70 percent of the population, it usually stagnates," he said.

Based on data from the Ministry of Health as of May 31, 2022, at 12.00 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB), the recipients of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine reached 200.26 million people or 96.16 percent of the total 208.265.720 residents who were targeted for COVID-19 vaccination.

Meanwhile, the population who received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine increased to 167.42 million or 80.39 percent of the target.

Meanwhile, the population who received the third dose or booster reached 45.67 million people, or 21.93 percent of the target.