The Presence Of Vaccines Opens Opportunities For Corruption, DPR: The Government Must Immediately Set Prices

Container carrying the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Chinese company Sinovac. (Photo: Doc. Setkab)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VI DPR RI Mahfudz Abdurrahman stated that the government needs to ensure that vaccine prices are not left to the market mechanism to prevent rent-seeking practices in the supply of vaccines.

"The government must be present in regulating the price of the COVID-19 vaccine and not leaving it to the market mechanism, so that the price of the COVID-19 vaccine that is enforced does not burden the public," Mahfudz Abdurrahman said in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Monday, December 14.

Mahfudz emphasized that the government must be able to prevent the practice of rent-seeking in the supply of vaccines considering the large number of vaccine users that the government does not bear.

He also emphasized that the vaccines that will be injected into the community must be ensured that they are safe and lawful, and not burdensome to people who are worsening due to the prolonged pandemic.

The government, according to him, must also ensure good coordination between technical ministries in vaccine supply.

"Good coordination between technical ministries is expected to produce the right decisions in the provision of the COVID-19 vaccine, so that it can fulfill the needs of 107 million people well," he said.

As is known, he continued, the COVID-19 vaccine will target 107 million people, of which 75 million are independent vaccines and 32 million are covered by the government.

Previously, the Spokesperson for COVID-19 Vaccination from the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi, emphasized that until now the government had not set a price for the COVID-19 vaccine so that people were asked to wait for an official announcement.

"The information currently circulating cannot be used as a reference and we urge the public to wait for the official government announcement regarding the vaccine and vaccination against COVID-19," said Siti Nadia.

This he conveyed related to a number of information circulating about the price of the COVID-19 vaccine in the community. In fact, the government has not announced the vaccine tariff or price.

The government through the Decree of the Minister of Health Number 9860/2020 has determined six types of COVID-19 vaccines that can be used in Indonesia, namely vaccines produced by Bio Farma, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Moderna, Pfizer / BioNTech and Sinovac.

"Its presence and use in the vaccination program in Indonesia is still dynamic following the procurement process and its use permit," said Siti Nadia.