JAKARTA - The government approved China's plan to build a vaccine in Indonesia. Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said the Chinese vaccine factory is planned to be operational in April 2022.
Responding to this, Member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives, Kurniasih Mufidayati, warned that the plan to build a Chinese vaccine factory would not interfere with and defeat the priorities of the domestic vaccine industry. Moreover, the Red and White vaccine is also scheduled to start production in April-May 2022.
"Don't let the spirit of vaccine independence through the Red and White vaccine be defeated by investment agendas from abroad. The spirit of independence for vaccines and domestic medicines is said to be a priority by President Joko Widodo," said Mufida in a statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, September 8.
Mufida also reminded Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut that President Jokowi had issued Presidential Instruction No. 6 of 2016 concerning the Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Industry.
According to him, the spirit of this Presidential Instruction is a priority in the development of the pharmaceutical industry and medical devices, including vaccines from within the country.
"Remember, there is only the President's vision and mission, no ministerial vision and mission. Therefore, the spirit of self-reliance in the domestic pharmaceutical industry must come first," said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician.
Moreover, continued Mufida, Bio Farma as a state-owned vaccine producer has been recognized by the world. In fact, he said, the OIC countries learned about vaccines from Bio Farma.
Mufida said that of the 57 OIC countries, only 7 have vaccine factories. Of these, only 2 are certified by WHO, namely Senegal and Bio Farma.
"Currently, Bio Farma has exported vaccines to 145 countries, 50 of which are OKI countries. This means that our country has become a vaccine reference by the world. This is a momentum with the development of the Merah Putih vaccine," concluded Mufida.
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