Jokowi: All COVID-19 Vaccines In Indonesia Must Enter The WHO List

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo emphasized that only the COVID-19 vaccine is included in the list of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the government will provide to the public.

"All vaccines we use must be included in the WHO list, this is mandatory, must be included in the WHO list," said President Jokowi at the Tanah Sereal Community Health Center, Bogor, West Java, as reported by Antara, Wednesday, November 18.

President Joko Widodo conveyed this while reviewing the simulation of the COVID-19 vaccine immunization at the Tanah Sereal Community Health Center, Bogor together with Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto and Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto.

"First, regarding vaccines first, we hope that this vaccine will come at the end of November, we will try, but if it doesn't make it into December, either in the form of a finished vaccine or in the form of raw materials to be processed at Bio Farma," he said President.

However, after vaccines enter Indonesia, according to the President, there are still further stages. "After we receive it there are still more stages, it cannot be injected immediately because there are still more stages at the BPOM (Food and Drug Supervisory Agency) because we need Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from there," added the President.

According to the President, this stage will take about 3 weeks. "After obtaining permission from the BPOM, we will do the vaccination. I have also conveyed these 'scientific' principles, these scientific principles must be followed. We want safety, security for the community, which must really be given the highest place," said the President. .

The Indonesian government is known to have signed an agreement to procure 143 million doses of vaccine concentrate with pharmaceutical companies from China, namely Sinovac, Sinopharm and CanSino, respectively 65 million and 15 million to 20 million vaccine concentrate. The vaccine is planned to be produced by state-owned company PT Bio Farma.

The third phase clinical trial of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine is being carried out by a team from the Faculty of Medicine, Padjadjaran University since August 2020 and there have been 1,620 volunteers who received the first injection and have not found any side effects.

Bio Farma has been asked to start preparing three million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine ready for distribution starting November 2020, but its use is still awaiting approval from BPOM.

Apart from China, Indonesia has collaborated on vaccines with the G-24 technology company from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in mid-August by supplying 10 million doses of vaccine through cooperation with PT Kimia Farma.

Then there are 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, it is hoped that the first shipment can be made in the second quarter of 2021.