VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa ensured that 1,225,000 doses of locally made COVID-19 vaccine, Inavac, produced by Airlangga University (Unair) and PT Biotis Pharmaceutical are ready to be injected to Indonesian citizens.

According to Parawansa, the vaccine is ready to be sent to the Ministry of Health to be immediately administered to people, including to East Java's residents.

"Alhamdulillah (thank God), in early 2023, some 1.2 million doses of Inavac vaccine have been ready. This vaccine will become an effort to accelerate (the formation of) immunity among Indonesian people, even though the COVID-19 cases continue to decline significantly," she remarked here on Friday.

The governor affirmed that the provincial government of East Java would send a letter to the health minister, so that East Java can be allotted a quota from the 1.2 million doses of Inavac.

"East Java hopes to receive sufficient allocation to continue vaccinating people to achieve community immunity before the Ministry of Health distributes the Inavac vaccine to all provinces in Indonesia," she affirmed.

Parawansa, who concurrently serves as chairperson of the Unair Alumni Association (IKA), explained that the 1.2 million doses were from the first production in November 2022.

Inavac's production target for 2023 is 15-20 million doses. Apart from being used to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination in the country, some of the doses would be exported to countries that are in need of vaccines.

Based on its clinical trials, Inavac can be used as a primary COVID-19 vaccine or for first-dose and second-dose vaccinations, with an interval of 28 days between doses.

She explained that Inavac could only be used for people aged 18 years and above after it received an emergency use authorization from the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (BPOM) on November 4, 2022.

Head of the Inavac Research Team Prof. Ni Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih ensured that the team would continue its research, so that the vaccine could be used not only for adults and adolescents but also for children. (antaranews)