VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 9 - Indonesia has received 1,113,600 ready-to-use vaccine doses developed by AstraZeneca under the COVAX multilateral scheme.

“Today, Indonesia received the first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines comprising 1,113,600 shots, with a total weight of 4.1 tonnes, divided into 11,136 cartons,” said Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, during a press conference at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday.

The minister said the shipment was the first installment of the first batch of vaccines allocated to Indonesia under the multilateral scheme.

Indonesia will be receiving a total of 11,704,800 shots as part of the first batch, she informed.

“The first batch shipments will continue to be carried out until May, 2021, and Insya Allah (God Willing), the plan is to have more batches following (the first one),” she elaborated.

She also lauded the cooperation among the ministries and institutions in the country, as well as international partnerships with a number of parties, including donor countries, vaccine alliance GAVI, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UNICEF, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

She assured that vaccine diplomacy will continue to be strengthened, adding that diplomatic efforts will also be boosted to support the government’s efforts directed at health resilience and economic recovery.

The minister also underlined the importance of measures taken to ensure equal access to vaccines and said she has been continuously advocating for the cause, including through her role as one of the co-chairs of the COVAX AMC Engagement Group.

Aside from Marsudi, the arrival of the first vaccine shipment from COVAX was also witnessed by the WHO Country Representative in Indonesia, N Paranie, and the UNICEF Country Representative, Debora Comini. (antaranews)