HKN 2022, Bio Farma Receiving A Visit Of 250 Exemplary Health Workers

Secretary of the Indonesian Medical Consile, Dr. Imran Agus Nurali. (Photo: Doc, Antara)

JAKARTA - A total of 250 role models and leaders of the Directorate General of Health Workers at the Indonesian Ministry of Health visited the Bio Farma office on Sunday, November 13.

The arrival of hundreds of health workers is in commemoration of the National Health Day (HKN) which is celebrated every November 12.

President Director of Bio Farma Honesti Basyir hopes that the presence of role models health workers can increase insight and knowledge related to vaccine production, Antisera.

Bio Farma itself has successfully distributed 425 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to 34 provinces and 514 cities and regencies.

"The role of health workers does not stop at curative and promotive efforts, but also on preventive efforts. What is the meaning of the 425 million doses of vaccine that are distributed, if there are no health workers who help inject the Covid-19 vaccine to the public, "said Honesti as quoted by Antara, Monday, November 14.

The latest Bio Farma vaccine is IndoVac. The IndoVac vaccine will soon become a booster dose vaccine after the issuance of an Emergency Use Permit (EUA) Booster from the POM on November 3.

With this EUA obtained, IndoVac is the first domestically produced vaccine to receive EUA and become the seventh booster vaccine that can be used in Indonesia.

Honesti Basyir said that for this booster vaccine, Bio Farma has at least prepared a production capacity of 20 million doses, which will be made at the Bio Farma production facility.

"We have prepared the production of this IndoVac vaccine, starting from the raw materials and supporting materials, out of a total of twenty million doses, at least five million doses will be ready in the near future," said Honesti.

Based on the EUA signed by the Head of the Indonesian POM Penny K Lukito, it was explained that the IndoVac vaccine booster dose would be used for people aged 18 years and over who received the Sinovac (heterologous booster) primary vaccine.

In parallel, the vaccine containing the IndoVac Domestic Component Level (TKDN) is 90.3 percent, the first domestically made COVID-19 vaccine, which is the result of the collaboration between Bio Farma and Baylor College of Medicine from the US, is conducting clinical trials of the COVID-19 IndoVac vaccine for children on October 6, 2022, and it is estimated that EUA for vaccines for children will be released in early December 2022.

"After obtaining an emergency use permit for children, the Indovac vaccine can be used for a wider range of age," Honesti concluded.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Indonesian Medical Consile, Imran Agus, said that he had never been a role model to Bio Farma, which was expected to be able to find out from the vaccination production process from upstream to downstream.

"These role models consist of nine types of health workers at the puskesmas, 13 types of regional general hospital health workers from various provinces, 13 types of professions from government-owned vertical hospital staff, then from underdeveloped islands and borders, and another from posyandu health cadres who of course have fought and become the nation's heroes during the COVID-19 condition yesterday which is still not finished until now," said Imran.