VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Head of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology Amin Soebandrio said that developing the Merah Putih vaccine for COVID-19 is 50 percent complete.

"It's now at 50 percent, we just have to wait for the recombinant protein from the expression system that uses mammalian cells," Amin said in Jakarta, on Friday.

Amin expects in the next two to three months Eijkman can carry out a preclinical test of the Merah Putih vaccine, which was developed with a recombinant protein subunit platform in animals.

"We hope it will finish early next year," Amin said.

Amin said that the Eijkman Institute could amplify the target genes from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The gene has been cloned and inserted into mammalian cells and yeast cells, which are the expression system.

"We developed two systems (expression), one using mammalian cells and the second with yeast cells," Amin said.

The next process is to wait for the cells to express the recombinant protein that has been designed. If they have obtained the recombinant protein, they will inject it into the animal in the preclinical test stage.

The preclinical testing is expected to be completed in early 2021 and they can submit the vaccine seeds to PT BioFarma, which will plan vaccine seeds for clinical trials in humans.

"From a laboratory scale to an industrial scale, we must reformulate it to be injected into humans," Amin said.

Amin said that phase one clinical trials in humans will be carried out in the second trimester of 2021.

Phase one clinical trials can start after they formulate a vaccine candidate to be injected into humans and the Health Ministry allows it.

"We expect the permit process to be shorter, maybe in two weeks we will complete it," Amin said.

According to Amin, it is possible that the Merah Putih vaccine could be mass-produced to meet the needs of the Indonesian people by the end of 2021.

He also explained that the Eijkman Institute was developing a vaccine using other platforms.

"It's just a backup. We also study what they have done in China with the whole virus. But it's not the main thing, which is the recombinant protein," he said. (Antaranews)

Indonesia has recorded 3,269 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which have brought the total tally of infections to 187,537, as of Friday, according to the country's Task Force for COVID-19 Response.

With 2,126 people recovering from COVID-19, the total recoveries stand at 134,181, the task force noted in a report released on Friday.

Meanwhile, the death toll has reached 7,832, with 82 people succumbing to the disease within the last 24 hours.

The figures suggest that the country currently has 45,524 active cases, or patients still receiving treatment or undergoing self-isolation. By Friday, 85,178 suspected patients have been placed under surveillance.

On Friday, the authorities examined 36,268 specimens from 18,100 people at 320 laboratories across the country. Since Indonesia reported its first confirmed cases in March 2020, a total of 2,375,133 specimens from 1,371,391 people have been examined in the country.

COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in 34 provinces, with 489 cities and districts affected by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, five provinces have recorded the highest number of new cases on Friday, with Jakarta reporting 880 fresh cases, West Java 385, East Java 350, East Kalimantan 281, and Bali 196.

The provinces of Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi reported no new cases on Friday.  (ANTARA)

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin during a teleconference with officials of the Indonesia Institute of Islamic Dawah (LDII) on Thursday (Sept 3, 2020). ANTARA/HO-Vice Presidential Secretariat/sh

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has urged the Indonesia Institute of Islamic Dawah (LDII) to partake in the deradicalization program for people exposed to radicalism and extremism in a bid to return to moderate Islam.

"This is our common task to prevent and counter radicalism. Bringing back those exposed (to radicalism) has become the responsibility of us all, including the LDII," Amin noted in a statement in Jakarta on Friday.

The vice president admitted that radicalism and extremism existed in the country, for which deradicalization and counterradicalism efforts must be made unceasingly through wasathiyah (moderate) preaching, among others.

"The threat of radicalism exists. It is one of my tasks to build a commitment to counter radicalism. We have to strengthen prevention efforts and counter radicalism," he stated.

Harmony among different religious groups has become the key to preventing and curbing the swift spread of radicalism in the country.

The vice president has appealed to all mass organizations, especially the religious-based groups, to participate in maintaining religious harmony in Indonesia.

"I called on LDII to partake in efforts to maintain harmony among religious groups and build the nation's unity and oneness. This is because harmony is the key factor for the nation's unity," he remarked.

Amin held a teleconference with LDII officials on late Thursday (Sept 3). He is upbeat about the institute improving its service to Indonesian Muslims.(ANTARA)

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the Covid-19 pandemic had pushed reforms in several fields in Indonesia, although there are downsides.

"Despite that Covid-19 has been very painful for everyone, this is also a blessing for us because we can carry out many reforms in Indonesia," he said in front of investors and representatives of the Australian government, in Jakarta, on Friday.

Several reforms, including in the fields of health to energy. Luhut also often says that reforms are because of pandemic conditions, for example, Indonesia, which was previously heavily dependent on imports, has now encouraged independence to supply its own domestic pharmaceutical needs.

"So after Covid-19, we can start vaccinating the public at the end of this year, so Indonesia will be better next year," he said.

Luhut also encouraged Australian investors to immediately realize their investment. This Friday morning, he signed an agreement with the Australian iron ore industry company Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) to develop renewable energy to support the green industry.

FMG will invest in the construction of 60 GW of hydroelectric power and 25 GW of renewable energy from geothermal power in the country.

"We want to see the execution as soon as possible," he added.

According to Luhut, Indonesia and Australia have the potential for minerals and renewable energy so they can collaborate and become key players in the global green and renewable energy industry.

The former Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security also said that collaboration is an important thing to do in tough times such as the current Covid-19 pandemic.

He believes the agreement promotes sustainable development that combines economic development, social progress, and environmental protection.

"This agreement also strengthens President Joko Widodo's policy of bringing together economic recovery measures as the key ingredient of our fight against the pandemic," he said.

Besides the signing of the agreement deed, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was also signed between the two parties to reduce plastic waste leakage into Indonesian waters.

The signing of the LoI was carried out by the Deputy for Coordination of Environment and Forestry Management at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment Nani Hendiarti and Andrew Forrest. (Antaranews)