VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be received by Indonesia in the fourth quarter of this year so that the first quarter of next year can be vaccinated.

"They have committed to giving 30 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 so that in the first quarter next year we can vaccinate subjects after success in testing clinical trials," he said in an online discussion in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Airlangga, who is also Head of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (PEN), said the government itself is targeting Indonesia to have access to between 250 million and 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by next year.

"The government has conducted clinical trials of vaccines not only in Indonesia but also in China, Brazil, Bangladesh, and Turkey. We expect to complete this in December (2020)," he said.

He explained that the target would be achieved through 10 sources, namely Sinovac, G-42 / Wuhan Institute Biological Products / Sinopharm, Astra Zaneca, GAVI / CEPI, and CanSino Biological Inc./Beijing Institute Technology.

"The price of the vaccine from GAVI / CEPI is estimated to be lower by around $3 to $5, while for Sinovac between $10 and $20," he explained.

Then also from BioNTech / Fosun Pharma / Pfizer, Modena / NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases, Acturus Therapeutics / Duke-NUS, Korean Genexine, and Merah Putih Vaccine.

"The development of our own vaccine, namely the Merah Putih vaccine, is expected to be included in the third phase in the third quarter of 2021," he said.

He said some of the vaccines only need one injection and some are injected twice.

"Sinopharm, might need one injection, so the method and price will be different," he said. (Antaranews)

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that Indonesia's trade balance in August 2020 experienced a surplus of $2.33 billion with an export value of $13.16 billion and imports $10.74 billion.

"This surplus is still much bigger than the trade balance position in August 2019, which was a surplus of $92.6 million. We hope that in the future the economy will improve, our surplus will increase and the economy can recover,” head of BPS Suhariyanto said at a virtual press conference in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Suhariyanto explained that in August 2020, Indonesia's trade balance experienced a surplus for several countries, namely the United States by $1 billion with clothing and accessories, both knitted and non-knitted, as well as machines and electrical equipment.

Then, trade with the Philippines by $451 million with vehicle products and parts, as well as processed food products, and India by $425 million US dollars with products of mineral fuels, vegetable animal fats, and organic chemicals.

With China, Indonesia's trade is a deficit by $893.6 million, with Brazil a deficit of $158.4 million, then Hong Kong a deficit of $116.7 million.

The cumulative trade balance of Indonesia in January-August 2020 experienced a surplus of 11.05 billion US dollars, much larger than the same period in 2019 where the figure was a deficit of $2,04 billion. (Antaranews)

The Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), will depart for China and the United Arab Emirates next month, to ensure the halalness of the Covid-19 vaccine imported from the two countries.

The Chief Executive of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 (KPCPEN) and National Economic Recovery, Erick Thohir admitted that he had met with Vice President Ma'ruf Amin to ask for support.

He said, during the first vaccine test in Bandung, MUI was present to ensure the safety and halal vaccines of the two countries.

"We also ensure that this vaccine is halal and according to our standards. Therefore we send BPOM to the UAE and God willing to China this October with MUI," Erick said at a webinar entitled 'Healthy Transportation, Advanced Indonesia' held by the Ministry of Transportation, on Tuesday.

Erick also ensures that Indonesia will receive 310 million doses of the vaccine by the end of 2021. This number includes an additional 10 percent in the agreement between Indonesia and Sinovac in China and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, until the end of the year, there will be 30 million vaccines first. This vaccine will be injected first for medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, and midwives before they carry out mass immunization to the community early next year.

"We hope that we can stabilize it rather than maintain public health until we can produce the red and white vaccine which will be developed in early 2022," Erick said.

In the vaccine development program, the Indonesian government will inject around IDR 5 trillion in funds into Bio Farma. The target is that the company can produce as many as 30 million to 40 million vaccines.

Bio Farma, through a pharmaceutical BUMN holding, collaborates with Sinovac Biotech Ltd from China. Later, Bio Farma will also collaborate with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), a collaboration between government and private sector at the global level based in Norway. (RRI)

The minister of state-owned enterprises who is also the head of the Covid-19 Task Force, Erick Thohir, revealed that the reason the government not to take a lockdown policy during the Covid-19 pandemic is not merely concerned with the economic sector.

"Lockdown did not lockdown as though it protects economic interests, I don't think so," Erick said in his presentation at the webinar series entitled "Healthy Transportation, Advanced Indonesia" in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Erick explained that no country has a formula for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"No country has a formula for economic recovery. The formula for each country is very different because this has never happened before. Health affects the business and monetary sector," he said.

Compared to other G20 countries, such as the United States, France, and Italy, Erick thinks that Indonesia still has a very good position.

"If we look at other G20 countries, whether India minus 23 percent, Britain, France, the United States, we are in a very good position. Compared to other Southeast Asia countries, it is also the same as Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and others, "he said.

For that, he said this year we must first focus on the health sector by implementing health protocols, such as wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining distance.

"If you look at this trend, then this timeline agreed by the committee cannot be reversed. Testing, tracing, treatment is a must," he said.

He hopes that massive vaccination can be started next year, in line with the investment stimulus that will also move.

"If the vaccine is to start early next year, how can economic stimulus investment continue to go hand in hand without forgetting health aid? We hope that later there will be a lot of research stating that next year's economic growth Indonesia can return to positive," he said.

After the Healthy Indonesia goal has been achieved, Erick continued, the next step is Growing Indonesia.

"Number 1 is a priority for a healthy Indonesia. We can't talk about Indonesia growing if Indonesia is not healthy. We are not talking about Indonesia working if Indonesia does not focus on health. Therefore, the people's priority is to be safe from COVID, and of course, health service reform is important,” he said.

Erick considered the COVID-19 pandemic to be an opportunity to reform the health system or transform the economy. (Antaranews)