Stock In Many Blank Regions, Bio Farma Ready To Come 225 Thousands Of Medical Vaccine Dose

Illustration of the meningitis vaccine. (Antaranews)

JAKARTA - PT Bio Farma (Persero) will soon supply 225 thousand doses of the Meningitis Vaccine in September 2022 to meet the needs of the community by the end of the year.

"This September, 225 thousand doses of the Meningitis Vaccine will come again, which is sufficient for needs until the end of the year," said PT Bio Farma President Director Honesti Basyir at the Sujudi Building at the Indonesian Ministry of Health Office, Jakarta, Thursday.

He admitted that currently there is a shortage of Meningitis Vaccine stocks in a number of areas due to limited supplies.

The stock vacancy occurred because around 20 thousand doses of the Meningitis Vaccine in storage facilities in a number of areas had problems with self-life or entering the shelf time limit.

"Bio Farma has limited stock, yesterday there was an issue in the problem of self-life," he said.

Honesti said Bio Farma had obtained a permit to extend the vaccine storage period through a stability test of 20,000 doses of vaccine from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).

"Now it has been extended, there are around 20 thousand doses that have been approved by BPOM, we have extended it plus this September. So we have increased stock," he said.

The Honesti's statement also answered the scarcity of the Meningitis Vaccine to serve Umrah pilgrims in a number of parts of Indonesia.

This situation was experienced, including Umrah pilgrims in Indramayu, Cirebon, Majalengka, Kuningan, and Solo.

Previously, the Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Services of the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, told reporters that there was a vacancy in vaccine stocks in several places in Indonesia.

The scarcity was due to disruption of shipments or distribution from producers. In addition, there is an increase in Umrah pilgrims due to restrictions on pilgrims.