Former Minister of Health Hopes to Get Distribution Permit for Nusantara Vaccine Medical Devices

Former Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto was met after a Public Hearing Meeting with Commission IX DPR RI in Jakarta, Monday (20/6/2022). ANTARA/ Zubi Mahrofi

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Health, Terawan Agus Putranto, hopes to immediately obtain a distribution permit for medical devices to make Nusantara vaccines from the Ministry of Health.

"We pray that hopefully this can be realized soon for the distribution permit for medical devices because there are problems", Terawan said after a public hearing with House of Representatives Commission IX in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Monday, June 20.

He emphasized that the Nusantara Vaccine team would follow all applicable regulations so that the Nusantara vaccination could be used by the community to fight COVID-19.

"Anyway, we are very patient and obey the rules and regulations. But in principle, if it can be made easier, why to make it difficult", he said.

Terawan conveyed that the working committee (Panja) of House of Representatives Commission IX had provided support so that the distribution permit for the medical device would be issued immediately.

"I am very proud that the people's representatives are still very concerned about us, the people's desire for what can be given to the country. We only always hope what we can give to the country", he said.

Terawan said Nusantara Vaccine is a dendritic cell-based vaccine. Dendritic cells are the strongest Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) in the human body that plays an important role in the immune system.

"That's why we developed a COVID-19 vaccine that uses dendritic cells", he explained.

According to Terawan, the advantages of this vaccine are that it is autologous, individual in nature, does not contain harmful additives and is safe for people with low immunity, such as people with diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, autoimmune disease, and others.

Previously, Epidemiologist from Griffith University Australia, Dicky Budiman, asked for the name of the Nusantara Vaccine to be changed because the dendritic cell-based vaccine is an innovation developed by many researchers in the world.

"The sentence that the Nusantara Vaccine has been published in international journals must be straightened out, that this is a review of the dendritic cell vaccine, do not use the name Nusantara Vaccine", said Dicky Budiman.

The naming of the Nusantara Vaccine has triggered various responses from the public because many international journals have provided reviews related to dendritic cells.

Dicky ensured that Indonesia was not a pioneer in researching dendritic cells in the world.