VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi went to England and Switzerland to explore cooperation in procuring COVID-19 vaccines both through bilateral and multilateral schemes.

"The major objective of this trip is to secure commitments from other sources for the COVID-19 vaccine in the framework of bilateral vaccine cooperation," said Retno in an online press conference from Jakarta, Monday.

In addition, Foreign Minister Retno, accompanied by the Minister of BUMN and the Ministry of Health team, will hold a meeting with the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and representatives of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to discuss the COVAX initiative.

Through the COVAX or COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility, GAVI is in charge of coordinating vaccine procurement, while CEPI monitors research and development of vaccine candidates.

Under the COVAX initiative, the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, once available, will be carried out through one door, namely from the UNICEF Complaints Division in Copenhagen, Denmark - one of the world's largest humanitarian aid channels.

In this cooperation scheme, UNICEF is tasked with coordinating the purchase and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine to more than 140 countries, including Indonesia, so that each country has equal and affordable access to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The aim of the Indonesian government's visit to England and Switzerland is also to encourage the strengthening of medium and long-term cooperation between the domestic vaccine producer PT Bio Farma and its partners abroad. (Antaranews)