Indonesia's Infrastructure And Human Resources Are Considered Ready To Vaccinate Against COVID-19

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The production target for the COVID-19 vaccine at Bio Farma has reached 250 million doses. Bio Farma's experience in the production of tens of thousands of vaccines goes back 130 years.

The Bio Farma vaccine has also been used by the State Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC). A national survey conducted by the Ministry of Health together with the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI) supported by UNICEF and WHO shows that 64.8 percent of the 115,000 respondents in 34 provinces are willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

"To prepare for the COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia, the Ministry of Health has trained 7,000 out of 23,000 health workers as vaccinators. And of course, vaccine management and cold chain are carefully prepared," said dr. Reisa Broto Asmoro, Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, in a statement received, Saturday, November 21

He said this during the Dialogue for the Government Spokesperson and New Habit Adaptation Ambassadors with the theme The Long Way of Vaccines to Our Bodies, which was held by the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN), Friday, November 18 yesterday.

On the same occasion, dr. Dirga Sakti Rambe M.Sc, Sp.PD, who is a vaccinologist, also said that Indonesia has adequate infrastructure for the distribution of vaccines to remote areas, including the eagerly awaited COVID-19 vaccine.

"It should be noted that vaccines are biological products that need to be stored in a special way, because they are sensitive to temperature. The majority of vaccines are stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius, except for the polio vaccine, which is minus 20 degrees Celsius. From the time the vaccines were produced to be used in hospitals and health centers, "The temperature must be guaranteed transportation. And don't worry, we are experienced. We are ready," he said.

Indonesia has many years of experience in producing, distributing and implementing vaccines. The cold chain system, which is one of the determinants of vaccine quality, has also been well developed.

"97 percent of the cold chain system is running well so there is no need to worry. Starting from the factory to receiving it at the puskesmas, for example in Aceh or Papua, everything is ready," said dr. Dirga.

Regarding human resources who will provide vaccinations later to the community, Indonesia already has 23,000 trained vaccinators. Even the vaccinators have been provided with special training by the Ministry of Health, and 7,000 vaccinators have been specially trained.

"Currently in Indonesia there are about 440,000 general practitioners, specialist doctors, nurses and midwives, all of whom I am sure are ready to work together to make this vaccination preparation a success. In principle, we want all to be involved so that this vaccine can be widely used by the community," he explained. dr. Dirga.

The public needs to be a little patient until the results of phase III clinical trials are completed and the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) permit is issued first, then the COVID-19 vaccine can circulate in Indonesia.

"From that data, we will find out how much the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine will be. After that the producer applies for a distribution permit to the BPOM. So if the vaccine has received a distribution permit from the BPOM, its safety and effectiveness will be ascertained. If there is a claim for the effectiveness of the A vaccine, it is not "Nothing, we receive as information. But we will actually receive effectiveness later after the clinical trial phase III has been reported," said dr. Dirga.

The community still has to make every effort to prevent contracting COVID-19, even though the vaccine will be widely circulated later.

"We must continue to do 3M (Wearing Masks, Washing Hands, Maintaining Distance) efforts. The vaccine is to complement our body's defenses because of its specific protection. We are working on all of this so that we can control this pandemic," concluded dr. Dirga.