VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo ANTARA/HO-KKP/pri. (ANTARA/HO-KKP)

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry will expend Rp474.9-billion additional budget funding for accelerating national economic recovery and facilitating the maritime and fisheries sector to become among the main players in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I feel more confident that the maritime and fisheries sector would grow and strengthen to win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic," Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo stated in Jakarta on Monday.

The minister drew attention to the aspect of marine resource management yet to reach an optimum level, with merely 10 percent of the potential resources being utilized. In fact, Indonesia has the second-longest coastline in the world.

Prabowo opined that managing marine resources was not a difficult task since Indonesia had sufficient human resources and technology.

Secretary General of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry Antam Novambar noted that the additional budget is based on a letter from the Finance Minister No. S-180/MK.2/2020 dated August 8, 2020.

The additional budget increased the amount of budget fund allotted to the ministry to Rp5.1 trillion, from Rp4.6 trillion.

"In principle, the additional budget fund is designed to assist stakeholders of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry in coping with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will be made available to fishermen to procure fish-catching tools and develop fish farming, including fish feed, seeds, and insurance as well as floating nets and market fish, In addition, it will be used to lend assistance in salt farming and encourage labor-intensive activities," he stated.

Novambar spoke of having held a coordination meeting with the Finance Ministry’s directorate general of budgeting for a comprehensive discussion on each activity and mechanism of utilizing the funding. (ANTARA)

A would-be volunteer consults a doctor in charge of the clinical trials for the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at the Educational Hospital, Padjadjaran University (Unpad), Bandung, West Java. (ANTARA/Bagus Ahmad Rizaldi)

A research team has conducted a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test on 21 volunteers seeking to participate in the clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China-based Sinovac Biotech at Padjadjaran University (Unpad).

The PCR test was conducted at the Unpad Educational Hospital on Monday, said Dr. Sunaryati Sudigdoadi, a representative from the hospital.

"We have conducted swab tests on 21 volunteers. They were all in good health while being checked," she said.

The results of the swab test will be announced on August 11, 2020. The volunteers will be inducted into the clinical trials for the vaccine if their COVID-19 tests come back negative.

Volunteers who test positive for COVID-19 would not be allowed to participate in the clinical trials, she added.

Even if they test negative for COVID-19, the volunteers will still have to take a rapid test to ensure they are healthy before they are administered the vaccine on Tuesday (August 11, 2020).

“Some of the 21 volunteers are young people and mothers. They are all in good health. The results of the test will be known tomorrow, and later, they will take a rapid test,” Dr. Sunaryati said.

"If all of them meet the qualifications, the 21 people will surely undergo vaccine injection as part of the clinical trials," she elaborated further.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is scheduled to visit the venue for the clinical trials at the Unpad Educational Hospital in Bandung on Tuesday.

He will also visit PT Bio Farma where the vaccine will be produced. (ANTARA)

A health worker of the University of Pandjajaran for vaccine testing. ANTARA/Bagus Ahmad Rizaldi

Some 1,020 Indonesians registered as volunteers to assist in the clinical trials of a COVID-19 candidate vaccine developed along with Sinovac from China, Dr Eddy Fadliyana, field manager of the clinical trials’ research team, stated.

The vaccine testing would commence on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, at the Teaching Hospital (RSP) of Padjadjaran University (Unpad), Bandung City, West Java.

Fadliyana revealed that the vaccine tests will be conducted at six locations: Unpad Hospital, Unpad Health Center, Dago Community Health Center (Puskesmas), Sukapakir Community Health Center, Garuda Community Health Center, and Ciumbuleuit Community Health Center.

Healthy adults in the age group of 18 to 59 years and with no congenital diseases can register as volunteers.

A total of 1,620 volunteers are required for the vaccine tests. Each volunteer will receive incentive worth Rp1 million.

The money will be provided in five stages, with each offered Rp200 thousand monthly as volunteers, who will have to be present for the tests five times during a five-month period.

In the meantime, a total of 2,400 vaccines from Sinovac, China, had arrived in Bio Farma on July 19, 2020. The Indonesian company plans to start the third phase trials in August.  

Indonesia's state-owned pharmaceutical holding, Bio Farma, is optimistic of commencing production of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, if the third phase of the vaccine's clinical trial were to run smoothly.

The third phase of the clinical trial, scheduled to run for six months, is expected to conclude by January 2021, Honesti Basyir, the president director of Bio Farma, noted in a statement in Jakarta on Monday.

"If the third stage of the clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine were to run smoothly, Bio Farma would begin its production in the first quarter of 2021. To this end, we have readied its production facilities at Bio Farma, with a maximum capacity to produce 250 million doses," Basyir remarked.

Bio Farma chose Sinovac as a partner owing to its vaccine platform or the manufacturing method employed by Sinovac being at par with the company's competencies.

Through the use of the inactivation method, Bio Farma has experience in manufacturing vaccines, including the Pertussis vaccine. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo is scheduled to witness the first day of clinical trials of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Bandung City, West Java, on Tuesday, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto stated.

The vaccine's clinical trials will be conducted at the Educational Hospital of Padjadjaran University (Unpad).

The minister highlighted the need to apply health protocols during the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine to volunteers involved in the clinical trials. To this end, Putranto has monitored the preparations for the vaccine's clinical trials ahead of President Widodo's visit on Tuesday.

"The most important aspect is that the first phase of the vaccine's clinical trials tomorrow must be conducted in adherence to the health protocols since the president will be bearing witness to it," he noted.

Until now, 21 volunteers had undergone swab tests as a prerequisite for the injection of the China-made vaccine. If they all were to test negative for COVID-19 and fulfill the qualifications, they will be administered the injection of COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday (Aug 11).

The hospital’s second floor, the venue for the vaccine's clinical trials, has been sterilized in line with the set protocols.

Dean of the School of Medicine of Unpad Dr Setiawan confirmed to have checked the health condition of medical workers that will be involved in the vaccine's clinical trials.

"The room for the vaccine's clinical trials is far safer than usual," he added. (ANTARA)