Freeing Sinovac Vaccine From China, The Government Tends Rp73 Trillion

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hatarto (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said the government has prepared a budget of between Rp. 63 trillion and Rp. 73 trillion for the implementation of free vaccinations next year.

"From the discussion, the range is between Rp. 63 trillion to Rp. 73 trillion which must be provided for vaccination," he said, in a video conference in Jakarta, Thursday, December 24.

The government has brought in 1.2 million vaccines made by a Chinese pharmaceutical company, Sinovac, earlier this month. Furthermore, there are 1.8 million Sinovac vaccines to come, plus 15 million vaccine raw materials to be processed domestically.

"Sinovac already exists in Indonesia 1.2 million doses, this is for the public to be injected twice, so that 1.2 million is for 600 thousand (people). Second, in January, the number of vaccines will be 1.2 million plus 1, 8 million, now this is being prepared, "he said.

The chairman of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN) said the government was also open to the possibility of bringing in other COVID-19 vaccines, such as from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novavax, and Covax.

However, said Airlangga, so far the government is still negotiating and it is estimated that it will only enter the country in the second quarter of 2021.

"The government has sent a letter of interest and is in the process of negotiation and of course there will be finalization. So from the procurement point of view, in terms of access, the government has prepared everything," he explained.

Airlangga explained that currently the government is waiting for the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) regarding the emergency use authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Sinovac. However, before issuing a license, BPOM must complement the results of clinical trials in the country with those conducted in other countries.

In a few days, he continued, BPOM will get the results of research or clinical trials of the Sinovac vaccine conducted in Brazil, the first and second phase clinical trials from Sinovac in China, and reports on the results of clinical trials conducted in Bandung.

"The three data are combined scientifically by BPOM and we hope that in January (2021), emergency use authorization can be given," he said.