VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. Chief of PT Bio Farma, Honesti Basyir, has said that Indonesia has been listed among the 10 countries in the world that are leading in vaccinating their people against COVID-19.

"Thank God (Alhamdulillah), Indonesia is considered to have been leading in its vaccination program. As of March 27 (2021), 10.4 million vaccine doses have been given to the people and we are included in the top 10 among other countries in the world," he said during a meeting with the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday.

During the meeting, he said that Indonesia is ranked 9th, after the United States of America, China, India, Great Britain, Brazil, Turkey, Germany, and Russia, followed by France, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates.

"Our position is even better than some countries in Europe. Of course, we must maintain this and continue to increase the speed of vaccination because we are also racing against the mutation of the virus itself," he said.

The speedy vaccination campaign in Indonesia was supported by the readiness of the vaccine supply itself, he pointed out. In addition to reaching commitments with several vaccine developers a while back, Indonesia has also been one of the countries to have conducted clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine, he added.

In addition, the support of a number of ministries/agencies for the vaccination program has also been a factor driving the speed of the vaccination program, he explained.

"This speed will determine how Indonesia can achieve herd immunity in approximately 15 months. Maybe, hopefully, if it can be faster," he said.

Furthermore, he said that up until March 28, 2021, as many as 7.2 million doses of the first stage of vaccination have been administered. As for the second stage of vaccination, the number of doses administered has reached 3.2 million.

For 2021, Indonesia has secured most of the shots needed to achieve herd immunity, which is pegged at 426 million doses, he revealed. The Indonesian government, through state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma, has entered into contracts to purchase raw materials for vaccines and finished vaccines with a number of developers for 329.5 million vaccine doses.

"In addition, there is an option to increase the supply. We are optimistic that the need for vaccines will be met. Most of it will be done in 2021. Even if it crosses to 2022, we hope that by the first quarter of 2022, everything can be resolved," he reiterated. (Antaranews)