VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi, spokesperson of the Health Ministry's COVID-19 Vaccination. (FOTO ANTARA/Andi Firdaus)

Indonesia is scheduled to receive another 10 million doses of Sinovac vaccine in April 2021, according to Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi, spokesperson of the Health Ministry's COVID-19 Vaccination.

"This number adds to the availability of the Sinovac vaccine in the country, which has reached 28 million doses," she said in a text message here on Sunday.

Of the existing stock of 28 million doses, five million have been distributed to several provinces while 11 million doses will be distributed early this month.

The remaining 12 million doses are still under the process of vaccine production by state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma which has established cooperation with Sonovac.

She mentioned about India's policy on embargo of AstraZeneca vaccine shipment to Indonesia. "Hence, the delivery is delayed until May 2021," she remarked.Despite the delay in the AstraZeneca vaccine delivery, she was optimistic that the government would still be able to pursue a herd immunity target by vaccinating a total of 181.5 million Indonesians.

"This will be completed by the end of December 2021. Of course, there is still time for us to accelerate the vaccination coverage according to schedule," she noted.

She also ensured that the COVID-19 vaccination program will continue during the fasting month of Ramadan which will start on April 13. 

Meanwhile, during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in WuYi, Fujian province, China, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi submitted a proposal for turning Indonesia into a vaccine hub for Southeast Asia, as part of long-term vaccine cooperation."This idea is still in its early stage, but what we are proposing includes cooperation to strengthen vaccine development research, develop raw material industries, and increase national vaccine production capacity," she said during a press conference held from China on Friday.

The idea was discussed with Wang Yi during talks on strengthening vaccine partnership, both in the long and short term, she informed.

The two countries will hold further discussions on the long-term vaccine cooperation, but in principle, China has expressed its support for the Indonesian initiative, she said.During the meeting, Indonesia also expressed the hope that, in the short term, the Chinese government would continue to provide support so that the delivery of vaccines, which has become a binding commitment, can be carried out according to the agreed schedule, she said.

"We also discussed the issue of strengthening vaccine cooperation directly with vaccine producers in China," said Marsudi.

The discussion comes at a time when vaccine producing countries have imposed export restrictions and bans on the grounds of meeting domestic needs, as several countries are facing a spike in cases//ANT

The condition of Nele Lamadike after being hit by a flood and landslide on April 4, 2021. (FOTO ANTARA/HO-FB Kuma Nuba Tukan)

At least 10 people were dead and tens of others missing when a landslide hit Nele Lamadike Village, Ile Boleng Sub-district, East Flores District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, in the wee hours of Sunday, Village Head Pius Pedang Melai said.

Tens of residents were missing in the natural disaster, he told Antara on the phone.

The landslide occurred when incessant downpour and strong wind happened in the village.

He said the search process could not be carried out optimally because it was done manually and the rain continued to fall in the area.The village authorities coordinated with the East Flores administration to immediately send heavy equipment to the scene to support the search operations, he added.

The Deputy District Head of East Flores, however, separately said that hundreds of residents were missing in the disaster//ANT

The location of a crash between Barokah Jaya fishing boat and MV Habco Pioneer in Indramayu waters, West Java. (ANTARA/Ho SAR Bandung)

As many as 17 crew members of Barokah Jaya fishing boat from Indramayu District, West Java, were missing and 15 survived in a sea accident on Saturday.

The ill-fated boat had 32 crew members, 17 of them were missing, while 15 survived, Head of the Bandung SAR (Search and Rescue) Office Deden Ridwansyah said here on Sunday.

The office received information about the accident in Indramyu waters, specifically at coordinates 5 ° 37'35.00 "S 108 ° 17'18.00" E, from the Cirebon Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) on Saturday at 6:31 p.m. local time.

At 4:45 p.m., the Cirebon VTS was informed by MV Habco Pioneer's captain that the Barokah Jaya capsized after crashing into his ship."According to the information, MV Habco Pioneer was sailing from Balikpapan to Merak, while the Barokah Jaya was on its way from Tanjungan to Balongan beach," he said.

The Bandung SAR Office has asked for a deployment of state-owned (KN) Wisnu SAR boat from Jakarta to carry out search operations around the accident location.

"On Saturday at 21:24 WIB (Western Indonesian Standard Time), KN SAR Wisnu departed from Inggom Pier, Tanjung Priok, with an estimated travel time of eight hours and an estimated arrival on April 4, 2021 at 6:24 WIB," he said//ANT

U.S. puts J&J in charge of plant that botched COVID vaccine, removes AstraZeneca

The United States has put Johnson and Johnson in charge of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and has stopped British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc from using the facility, a senior health official said on Saturday.

J&J said it was “assuming full responsibility” of the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, reiterating that it will deliver 100 million doses to the government by the end of May.

The Department of Health & Human Services facilitated the move, the health official said in an email, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has not been approved in the United States, said it will work with President Joe Biden’s administration to find an alternative site to produce its vaccine.

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The development, first reported by the New York Times, further hampers AstraZeneca’s efforts in the United States. The government has criticized the drugmaker for using outdated data in the results of its vaccine trial. It later revised its study.

Workers at the Emergent BioSolutions plant several weeks ago conflated ingredients for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, the Times said earlier in the week. J&J said at the time the ruined batch had not advanced to the fill-and-finish stage.

The government’s move to have the facility make only the J&J single-dose vaccine is meant to avoid future mix-ups, the Times said, citing two senior federal health officials.

The top U.S. infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday the country may not need AstraZeneca’s vaccine even if it wins approval.

The United States has loan deals to send Mexico and Canada roughly 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, made at its U.S. facility//Reuters