Minister Of Health Says Indonesia Will Buy Additional Tens Of Millions Of Pfizer And AstraZeneca Vaccines Until The End Of The Year

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi (Photo: KPCPEN doc via covid19.go.id)

JAKARTA - A total of 1.56 million doses of Pfizer brand COVID-19 vaccine and 450 thousand doses of AstraZeneca vaccine has just arrived in Indonesia.

Health Minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, targets that by the end of this year the government will be able to bring in 50 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and 20-30 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine through commercial purchases.

"It is hoped that by the end of the year we can obtain 50 million doses of Pfizer on a business-to-business basis, around 20-30 million business-to-business vaccines from AstraZeneca, to complete the 175 million doses of Sinovac vaccine", Budi said in a press statement on the Cabinet Secretariat's official website, Friday, August 20.

Apart from commercial channels, the government also brings vaccines through multilateral and bilateral cooperation schemes, one of which is through the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which is supported by the World Health Organization or WHO.

"From GAVI we have received the AstraZeneca vaccine at the beginning and we will also receive the Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines which we plan to receive starting this month", he said.

It was previously known that 1.56 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and 450,000 doses of AstraZeneca arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport on Thursday, August 19 evening.

The newly arrived Pfizer vaccine is imported through the commercial (business to business) route. Meanwhile, 450,000 AstraZeneca are supported by the Dutch government through bilateral cooperation.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, said the government will continue to work hard to meet the vaccine needs for the Indonesian people to immediately achieve communal immunity or herd immunity.

“The government has also purchased 1,560,780 doses of Pfizer vaccine which arrived this afternoon. Then 567,500 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and five million Sinovac vaccines will be received tomorrow. The government will continue to increase efforts to ensure the supply of vaccines for the needs of the Indonesian people", said Retno.