The COVID-19 Task Force Ensures The Government Follows The Development Of AstraZeneca Vaccine After Europian Countries Stopped Using It

ILLUSTRATION / UNSPLASH

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito said that Indonesia continues to follow the issue related to the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has recently been discontinued by a number of countries in Europe.

This vaccine discontinuation was carried out by Denmark, Norway, and Iceland due to reports of a number of users experiencing blood clots.

"The government continues to follow developments in the issue of AstraZeneca vaccines", Wiku said in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel, Friday, March 12.

Wiku emphasized that the government still believes that the use of this vaccine is safe according to the European Medicine Agency statement.

"The AstraZeneca vaccine that is already in Indonesia is safe to use in accordance with the European Medicine Agency statement delivered on Thursday, at this time there is no indication that this vaccine causes blood clots", he said.

In addition, the government also stated the belief that the vaccine is safe because blood clots are not a side effect of using the AstraZeneca Vaccine. The reason is that of the 10 million doses of vaccine that have been given in various countries, none have shown a risk of pulmonary embolism or venous thrombosis by age, sex, and other groups.

"This shows that the number of incidents of this kind is lower in vaccine recipients than the general public", explained Wiku.

Moreover, later on, when the AstraZeneca vaccine arrives in the country, it will also be monitored. "If there is a post-immunization follow-up incident (KIPI), it will be handled accordingly", he said.

As previously reported, the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) or an emergency permit for the AstraZeneca corona vaccine developed by Oxford University.

Head of BPOM Penny Lukito said the issuance of the permit was carried out after evaluating the AstraZeneca vaccine in collaboration with a number of related parties. "Based on the evaluation results, the BPOM issued EUA on February 22, 2021, against the AstraZeneca vaccine", Penny said in a virtual press conference, Tuesday, March 9.

Penny explained that the side effects of the vaccine are still normal. The majority were only local and seismic reactions.

"The results of the overall safety evaluation of 4-12 weeks of dosing are categorized as safe", he said.

Penny added that the BPOM has also received the results of the vaccine's efficacy, which is 62 percent. Meanwhile, the WHO safe limit is 50 percent.

It is known that Indonesia has received 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine some time ago. Apart from Indonesia, this vaccine has been used in a number of countries such as the UK, Germany, and South Korea.