VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said that three million COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac were ready to enter Indonesia by the end of 2020.

"These three million vaccines still have certification from the POM, they have sent a team to the Sinovac factory," Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto told an online press conference in Jakarta, Thursday.

According to the Coordinating Minister Airlangga, the vaccine could not be used immediately or needed time for immunization activities because it had to wait for a certification test from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM).

"It needs to be careful because it involves the overall public health. The government does not want any side effects from vaccination," added the Coordinating Minister.

In addition to the three COVID-19 vaccines, he continued, there are also 15 million doses of raw materials prepared at the end of the year and will be produced by Bio Farma.

Not only from Sinovac, he continued, the allocation of vaccines for Indonesia also came from Sinopharm with 15 million doses of independent vaccines and 100 thousand doses of Cansino.

"All of this is prepared access, and the government has issued a Presidential Decree on the purchase of vaccines, and now a Peraturan Menteri Kesehatan is being prepared. This method of purchasing requires a regulation to be right on target and quantity," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

He added that the government took two routes in obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine. An independent route or developed and produced domestically through the Red and White vaccine.

In its development, the Coordinating Minister continued, it is estimated that in the second quarter of 2021 it will be ready for production.

Then, the second route is through international cooperation from several companies that are conducting research and are already in the final stages of clinical trials including Sinovac, Sinopharm with the G40 through the United Arab Emirates, Cansino, and Astra Zeneca. (Antaranews)