VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. Pfizer Inc and BioNTech said on Thursday their vaccine is around 91% effective at preventing COVID-19, citing updated trial data that included participants inoculated for up to six months.

The shot also showed early signs of preventing disease in a small subset of study volunteers in South Africa, where a concerning new variant called B.1.351 is circulating.

Although lower than the stunning 95% efficacy result reported from its 44,000-person clinical trial in November, overall efficacy of 91.3% shows the vaccine to be a powerful tool against an evolving virus. The virus now has more transmissible forms and those that have been shown to evade antibody protection in lab studies and real-world clinical trials.

“These data reinforce our view that we have some really potent vaccines,” said Danny Altmann, a professor of immunology at Britain’s Imperial College London, who was not involved in the Pfizer trial.

Pfizer’s Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said the updated result, which includes data on more than 12,000 people fully inoculated for at least six months, positions the drugmakers to submit for full U.S. regulatory approval.

The vaccine is currently authorized on an emergency basis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The trial data “provide the first clinical results that a vaccine can effectively protect against currently circulating variants, a critical factor to reach herd immunity and end this pandemic for the global population,” Ugur Sahin, chief executive officer at BioNTech, said in a statement.

Experts fear new variants of COVID-19 from South Africa and Brazil may be resistant to existing vaccines and treatment. More than 300 cases of the South African variant have been detected in more than 25 U.S. states and jurisdictions, according to federal data.

Lab tests have previously indicated that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was less potent but still offered a robust defense against the B.1.351 variant that first emerged in South Africa.

The data released on Thursday offered the first look at how the vaccine might work in people against the South African variant. Among a group of 800 study volunteers in South Africa, where the variant is widespread, there were nine cases of COVID-19, all of which occurred among participants who got the placebo. Of those nine cases, six were among individuals infected with the South African variant.

“The Pfizer data are a big deal,” said Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in San Diego, noting that the results offer the first data in humans about how so-called mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer’s will perform against the South African variant.

“Six infections versus zero is something,” he said in an email, but noted the sample size is still “not enough to make conclusions about protection.”

Although the B.1.1.7 variant that originated in Britain has quickly spread across Europe and is gaining a foothold in the United States, the B.1.351 variant and similar variants are more concerning because they have shown to reduce the efficacy of three different COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials in South Africa.

BioNTech reiterated this week there would likely be a future need for booster shots that specifically address new variants and that the group was preparing to upgrade its vaccine when needed. A spokeswoman said on Thursday its strategy remains in place.

The vaccine was 95.3% effective in preventing severe disease as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

There were also no serious safety concerns observed in trial participants up to six months after the second dose, the companies said.

The trial reviewed more than 900 confirmed cases of COVID-19, most of which were among participants who received a placebo.

The results follow separate data that showed the vaccine is safe and effective in 12- to 15-year olds, paving the way for the drugmakers to seek U.S. and European approvals for this group. (Reuters)

Jakarta. The Indonesian government is partnering with the World Bank for creating a road map to apply the e-mobility program, according to Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi.

"We, in cooperation with the World Bank, are in the process of preparing a draft road map for implementing the e-mobility, electricity-based mass transportation program in Indonesia. The program will be firstly implemented in Bandung, Surabaya, and Medan as a pilot project," the minister remarked during an online discussion on "Disrupting the Fueling Network: Electric Vehicles & Smart Transportation" in Jakarta on Thursday.

Sumadi highlighted the government’s commitment to prop up the usage of electric cars in Indonesia. One of the efforts to fulfill the commitment is implementing the national e-mobility plan for the operation of electric buses.

The program is part of the government's endeavors to expedite the development of electric cars in accordance with Presidential Regulation No. 55 of 2019 on the acceleration of the battery electric vehicle program for road transportation, he stated. .

"The government's current policy is to encourage the use of buses, urban transportation modes, and battery-powered electric private cars," the minister pointed out.

To boost the electric car ecosystem in Indonesia, the government has also offered cooperation to the private sector for investment in the ground facility.

The government is offering a government-business world cooperation (KPBU) scheme to cater to all technical and roadworthy requirements for international standard electric cars, he noted.

The Industry Ministry is targeting to produce 600 thousand electric cars and 2.45 million battery-powered motorcycles in 2030.

The production target of battery-powered electric vehicles is expected to lower CO2 emissions from cars by 2.7 million tons and from motorcycles by 1.1 million tons, Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita noted in a written statement released on Wednesday.

Three domestic companies have, until now, developed facilities for manufacturing battery-powered electric vehicles, with a combined production capacity of 1,480 units per year, he noted.

To drive the production of battery-powered electric vehicles, the government is offering fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to consumers and manufacturers, Kartasasmita stated.

Incentives for consumers comprise zero-percent luxury sale tax (PPnBM), a 10-percent cap on regional tax, zero-percent down payment, low interest, electricity connection discount, and special police number, among other things, according to the minister.

Meanwhile, incentives for manufacturers cover tax holiday, mini tax holiday, tax allowance, import duty exemption, government-borne import duty, and super tax deduction for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D), he noted.

"The automotive industry is one of the key sectors contributing significantly to the national economy. Right now, 21 four- or more-wheeled vehicle manufacturers are operating in Indonesia," he stated. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, has highlighted the urgent need for strengthening family resilience and social interaction among people in the fight against radical beliefs and acts.

"There were terrorists that came from the younger generation, millennials, and families, this is very concerning and saddening," she said in a statement received here on Thursday.

In order to prevent terror incidents from recurring, she said, the government must prepare and implement concrete steps, such as strengthening family and social resilience.

"Family interaction and social interaction between residents and neighbors must be strengthened under the concept of community social resilience," she advised.

She said she believes that all parties must remind each other and prevent the spread of radical ideas on social media, considering the fact that many terrorists have been exposed to radical ideology on online platforms in the past.

In addition, she said, the younger generation must also be educated, for example, about the diversity of the Indonesian nation, in a bid to strengthen the spirit of tolerance and unity among the nation's children.

"Therefore, there needs to be social media literacy as well as monitoring of social media content containing radical and extremist material," she noted.

More efforts must be made to educate the younger generation on the need for moderation, tolerance, and inclusiveness, she added. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. As it entered its 20th year in Indonesia, Chinese technology company Huawei reflected on its commitment to support the fight against COVID-19 in Indonesia by providing diagnostic solutions to hospitals.

The company said it has offered its digital solutions to the Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital and the Pertamina Bina Medika (PERTAMEDIKA) Hospital.

With the help of the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted CT-Scans, the hospitals have been able to make COVID-19 diagnoses six times faster than usual, with a 93-percent accuracy level, the company added.

In a statement received here on Thursday, CEO of Huawei Indonesia, Jacky Chen, said the company has launched a number of campaigns in its 20th year of operating in Indonesia that aim to give back to the community.

“We have been rooted in this beautiful land for more than 20 years […] At this new point, we want to give more in return than take. In 2020, Huawei launched a series of “I Do” campaigns to give back to the community,” he informed.

Under one of the campaigns, dubbed as ‘I Do Create’, the company helped governments, enterprises, and hospitals to carry out digital transformations during the pandemic using AI, Big Data Analysis, and Cloud systems.

According to Huawei’s rotating chairman Ken Hu, the company continues to carry out innovations to create value for its customers, fight the pandemic, as well as support both economic recovery and social progress around the world.

“Huawei recognizes the importance of creating shared value for society as a whole, and is working together with partners to support broader economic, social, and environmental goals for shared progress and prosperity,” he remarked.

The company’s ‘I Do’ campaign also features ‘I Do Contribute’, which aims to accelerate Indonesian economic recovery in the post-pandemic world through the use of the latest technologies. The company has also launched a program to groom 100 thousand Indonesian digital talents for the next five years to build a solid foundation for human capital that is equipped for challenges of the future.

Meanwhile, as part of the ‘I Do Care’ campaign, Huawei said it sent a team to restore telecommunications networks during the Greater Jakarta floods and provide relief aid.

Furthermore, implementing digital transformation with the government and entire business communities, as well as key stakeholders in the ecosystem, has become the core aim of the ‘I Do Collaborate’ campaign, the company said. (Antaranews)