VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A screenshot of BPOM head Penny K Lukito (left) making a virtual statement to reporters in Jakarta, Friday (July 2, 2021). (ANTARA/Andi Firdaus) - 

Moderna vaccines, secured by Indonesia under the Covax facility, will require special storage technology, head of the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM), Penny K Lukito, has said.

"Because Moderna will be the first messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine to be received in Indonesia, it will require special storage technology, including during the distribution process," she explained during a virtual press conference originating from Jakarta on Friday.

The Moderna vaccines will certainly require different handling compared to other vaccines such as AstraZeneca, Sinovac, and Sinopharm, Lukito noted.

“(The) AstraZeneca (vaccine) is stored in a cold chain at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius, but this time (for Moderna), the technology is slightly different," she informed.

Indonesia has obtained the vaccines produced by ModernaTX in the United States through the Covax facility, a multilateral channel for distributing COVID-19 vaccines globally, she said.

Lukito assured that the special storage technology and distribution guidelines for the vaccine will be shared with Indonesia once the vaccines arrive

"Because these vaccines will be received from Covax, they will provide the vaccines along with the storage and distribution technology," she said.

According to Lukito, Moderna’s mRNA vaccines would have to be stored in a cold chain storage room at a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius in special containers.

"This technology will come together with the vaccine. This is a new treatment. With Moderna in Indonesia, there will be more other vaccines, such as Pfizer, that will also come to Indonesia in the near future," she said//ANT