VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Screen grab of BPOM Chairwoman Penny Lukito at a press conference of the Task Force for the Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling in Jakarta, Tuesday (19/5/2020). ANTARA/Prisca Triferna/ac

Chairwoman of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Penny Kusumastuty Lukito echoed her office's guarantee of the validity of protocols for the clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine.

"The BPOM surely guarantees the validity of the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial protocols. We will chaperone the clinical trial process up until the stage of accelerating the licensing and the distribution permit process," she noted during a press conference following a limited cabinet meeting with President Joko Widodo at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Lukito further remarked that the third phase of the clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine was underway and deemed the most critical stage and an advanced step in the process.

"This means that we are almost at the brink of making a finding and producing the vaccines," she remarked.

The first and second pre-clinical phases had earlier been cleared.

Lukito also spoke of following the production process by Bio Farma in parallel, with regard to the facilities that will allow BPOM to give the distribution permit following the completion of the clinical trial phase. (ANTARA)