VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government stated that it had secured the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine for 135 million Indonesian citizens until 2021.

"In the planning for 2021, it is already secure for the needs of 135 million people with around 270 million vaccines. The rest will continue to be pushed for 2022," said Chairman of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery who is also Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto in Jakarta, Monday.

He conveyed this after attending a limited meeting on the topic "Report of the Committee on Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery" via a video conference.

"Then for the target recipients of vaccines, the government plans to receive vaccines at the forefront, such as paramedics, Indonesian Army, police, legal officers, and public services for 3.4 million people with a need for 6.9 million doses of vaccine," said Airlangga.

The details are at the forefront such as medical and paramedical contact tracing, Indonesian Army/Police public services, 3,497,737 legal officers with a need for 6,995,474 doses of vaccine, community (religious/community leaders), regional apparatus (sub-district, village) some economic actors totaled 5,624,010 people with a total of 11,248.00 doses of vaccine, all teachers staff (Kindergarten, Primary School, Junior High, Senior High, and universities) were 4,361,197 people with a total vaccine of 8,722,394 doses of vaccine.

Furthermore, 2,305,689 people for government officials (central, regional, and legislative) with a total of 4,611,734 doses of vaccine, BPJS participants, and Contribution Assistance Recipients of 86,622,867 people with 173,245,734 doses of vaccine, the community, and economic actors. Others who aged 19-59 years is 57,548,500 people with a vaccine need of 115,097,000 doses.

The total number of people targeted to receive the vaccine is 160 million people and the number of vaccines provided is 320 million doses.

"Regarding the procurement of vaccines, the government has issued Presidential Decree 99/2020 on Vaccine Procurement and the government has prepared the procurement of vaccines and now the Minister of Health and the Minister of BUMN are completing negotiations with Astra Zeneca and we are preparing to procure 100 million doses, for that we need a down payment of 50 percent or $250 million and IDR3.7 trillion," he said.

Besides that, we finalized it with several suppliers.

"We are finalizing with several distributors such as Sinovac with 143 million dosages, Cansino with about 100,000 dosages. They will cooperate with BioFarma," Airlangga said.

Several vaccines manufacturers have committed to supply vaccines, such as Sinovac, Sinopharm, and Cansino. Vaccine purchase and delivery will take place after phase three clinical trials are completed. Several other companies are still in the discussion stage, such as AstraZeneca, Novavas, Pfizer, and CEPI.

"Down payment is already for AstraZeneca, the others are currently under discussion. It is true that the Minister of Health, the Minister of BUMN, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs are on their way to discuss in more detail," he said.

Purchasing vaccines require an advance payment. Presidential Decree No. 99/2020 provides a basis for the government to make an advance payment for the purchase of vaccines, which are still in the completion stage of clinical trials. Funds for the purchase of vaccines have been budgeted and become part of the PEN budget. From Sinovac, it is estimated that in 2020 to get around 18 million doses and in 2021 about 125 million doses.

"From Sinopharm, it is estimated that in December around 15 million doses and 50 million doses next year, while Cansino is planned for next year at 15 million doses, and AstraZeneca at 100 million doses," he said.

Regarding the Red and White vaccine, the Minister of Research and Technology, Minister of Health, and Minister of Finance is ensuring the availability of human resources budget and infrastructure to ensure the smooth development of the vaccine until production is targeted for mid-2021. (Antaranews)