Indonesia Reportedly Canceled Purchasing AstraZeneca Vaccine, Airlangga: Not Completely Correct

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo by: Setkab)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KCPPEN) Airlangga Hartarto confirmed the news circulating about Indonesia canceling the purchase of AstraZeneca vaccine, a COVID-19 vaccine product from the UK. According to him, this is not entirely true considering that the government has not made a final decision.

"The news is not entirely true because we have not yet been decided," Airlangga said in a press conference broadcast on the BNPB YouTube account, Tuesday, October 27.

He then explained that Indonesia made AstraZeneca a candidate for the COVID-19 vaccine because the research had been carried out in other countries. In addition, this vaccine product is also priced close to the public price and is believed to be available in sizeable volumes, although not in the near future. "He will only enter in the second quarter of next year," said Airlangga.

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy said that the government will continue to study foreign vaccine candidates including AstraZeneca, Novaxax, and others. This is intended so that procurement remains in line with the domestic needs of the COVID-19 vaccine.

In addition, this study is also conducted so that the government can see further whether the foreign vaccine can be produced domestically in the long term.

"Could these vaccines be like the red and white vaccine which will later be produced domestically," he said.

It is known that the Indonesian government has finalized the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine from three pharmaceutical companies from China, namely Cansino, Sinopharm, and Sinovac.

In connection with the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Brazilian health authority, Anvisa recently announced the death of a volunteer in the clinical trial of this COVID-19 vaccine. Even so, the University of Oxford which is carrying out the development of this vaccine said the trial would continue.

Quoted by Reuters on Thursday, 22 October, Oxford confirmed plans to continue testing. In a statement, they said they had made a careful assessment. There are no concerns about the safety of the clinical trials.

In addition, the Federal University of Sao Paulo, which helps coordinate phase III clinical trials in Brazil, also suggested that testing be continued. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca declined to comment.

The volunteer who died was a 28-year-old man living in Rio de Janeiro. He died of complications from COVID-19. Anvisa did not provide further details. They said the information was the medical confidentiality of those involved in the trial.

"Everything went as expected, with no record of serious vaccine-related complications involving participating volunteers," the Federal University of Sao Paulo said in a statement. After the incident, AstraZeneca's shares fell 1.8 percent.

So far, eight thousand of the 10 thousand volunteers planned for the trial have been recruited and given the first dose in six Brazilian cities. Many of the volunteers have received the second injection, said a university spokesman.