VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy (June 25, 2021). (ANTARA/HO-Humas Menko PMK) - 

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, has said the government must focus on accelerating the production of indigenous vaccines for inoculating pregnant women, toddlers, and children amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

"To anticipate unwanted possibilities in vaccine procurement, I suggest that we should focus more on accelerating national vaccine production," he said in a written statement received here on Saturday.

Based on data issued by the Ministry of Health, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among pregnant women have so far reached 35,099, while 24,591 infections have been recorded among newborns aged 0-12 months.

In response, the government has decided to accelerate the vaccination program for pregnant women, toddlers, and children, the minister informed.

Vaccinations could prevent transmission and reduce the rates of COVID-19 cases and fatality, he added.

The acceleration of the vaccination program is necessary and vaccine procurement should also prioritize indigenous vaccines, he said.

"How can this national production vaccine be materialized immediately so that we do not (have to) depend on the international market?” he asked.

The current situation in the global vaccine market is highly uncertain, he noted. Meanwhile, cases of COVID-19 are continuing to rise due to the presence of new and more infectious variants, he pointed out.

Citing the example of America, he said the country has managed to implement large-scale vaccinations as it has been able to produce COVID-19 vaccines and thereby, ensure abundant stocks.

Effendy said he is optimistic that Indonesia will be able to produce its own vaccines to help the government achieve its target of building herd immunity against COVID-19 by the end of 2021//ANT