VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. AstraZeneca said on Monday an independent panel found no higher risks of blood clots from its COVID-19 vaccine in a large U.S. trial, including rare ones in the brain. The shot was 79% effective overall, and 80% effective in the elderly.

Many countries are resuming use of the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s vaccine after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said the benefits outweighed the risks following investigations into reports of blood clots.

The fresh data comes after a poll on Sunday showed that European trust in the vaccine has plunged after at least 17 countries had suspended or delayed use after reports of hospitalisations with clotting issues and bleeding, while Asia is accelerating inoculations.

U.N. agency WHO, which has urged inoculations continue, said on Friday that more than 20 million doses of the vaccine had been given to Europeans, with over 27 million doses of Covishield, the vaccine by AstraZeneca partner Serum Institute, administered in India.

** Below is a list of countries and regions to resume or start using the vaccine after the investigations, in alphabetical order:

AUSTRALIA:

The pharmaceutical regulator approved on Sunday the local manufacturing of the vaccine by CSL.

BULGARIA:

Resumed inoculations from March 19.

CYPRUS:

Cyprus, which suspended the vaccine on March 15, restarted administering it on March 19.

FRANCE:

Medical regulator approved the resumed use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine on March 19, but said it should only be given to people aged 55 and older.

GERMANY:

Resumed administering the AstraZeneca vaccine from March 19.

INDONESIA:

Began using the vaccine on Monday after suspending it last week. But the Food and Drug agency has warned against its use on people with blood clotting disorders.

IRELAND:

Plans to resume rollout of the vaccine in the coming days for all those aged 18 and over, a committee said on March 19, after suspending it on March 14.

ITALY:

Resumed using the vaccine on March 19, and Italians who decline to be inoculated with it will be given an alternative later on.

LATVIA:

Also said it would restart administering the shots.

LITHUANIA:

Restarted administering the vaccine on March 19.

THE NETHERLANDS:

The health minister said on March 18 that the country would resume using the vaccine this week.

SOUTH KOREA:

President Moon Jae-in, 68, plans to get the shot on Tuesday after the government said it could be used on older people.

SPAIN:

Will resume administering AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine from Wednesday.

TAIWAN:

Premier Su Tseng-chang got the vaccine on Monday as the island began its immunisation campaign.

THAILAND:

Began use on March 15, with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha becoming the first to be inoculated, after Thailand delayed rollout the week before.

** Below is a list of countries and regions where suspensions continue for now, in alphabetical order:

AUSTRIA:

Suspended use of one batch of the vaccine on March 7 after the death of one person and the illness of another.

CAMEROON:

Suspended administration of the vaccine it was scheduled to receive on March 20 as part of the global vaccines sharing scheme COVAX, the health ministry said.

DENMARK:

Will keep its two-week suspension of the COVID-19 vaccine and decide on its future use this week. Denmark on Saturday reported two cases of serious illness, including one death.

FINLAND:

Suspended use of the vaccine while it investigates two possible cases of blood clots, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare said on March 19.

GEORGIA:

Has limited the use of the vaccine after a nurse died of anaphylactic shock, news agency TASS reported on March 19.

ICELAND:

Suspended vaccine use on March 11.

NORWAY:

Health authorities said on March 17 it was too soon to say if the vaccine causes blood clots after halting rollout on March 11.

ROMANIA:

Temporarily stopped vaccinating people with one batch of vaccine on March 11.

SWEDEN:

Needs “a few days” to decide whether to restart using the vaccine, it said on March 19 and will likely make a decision this week. (Reuters)

Jakarta. A private company in Pakistan will begin receiving shipments of China’s CanSino Biologics COVID-19 vaccine this week for commercial sale, an official at the company’s local partner told Reuters on Monday.

Pakistan, one of the first countries in the world to allow private imports of COVID-19 vaccines, has already received a batch of the Russian Sputnik vaccine.

“We expect the first 10,000 doses to come on March 25, and 100,000 next month and 200,000 the month after,” said Hassan Abbas, an official of AJ Pharma, CanSino’s local partner, which will be importing the vaccine.

“The issues with pricing have been worked out with the government and now we are waiting for a notification.”

The vaccine’s commercial name will be “Convidecia”, Abbas said, adding that five hospitals that ran its clinical trials will provide its doses for sale.

Pakistan is in the process of vaccinating frontline healthcare workers and citizens over the age of 60 free of charge using Sinopharm doses donated by China.

The commercial administration of vaccines is yet to begin as the government settles pricing issues, after reversing its decision to allow uncapped prices.

The government has approved a mechanism to fix open market prices for the vaccines, according to a health ministry summary seen by Reuters.

The summary proposed a price of 8,449 rupees ($54.30) per pack of two injections of the Russian vaccine and 4,225 ($27.15) per injection for the Chinese Convidecia.

The prices have been capped on the basis of the approved mechanism, it said.

However, the minister in charge of COVID operations, Asad Umar, told a local TV channel that according to the mechanism, the trade price for an imported vaccine will add 40% mark up in the landed cost, with another 15% for retailers or hospitals.

CanSino Biologics and Pakistan’s Health Minister Faisal Sultan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Pakistan is experiencing a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections, reporting on Saturday the highest number of positive cases in a day since July. (Reuters)

Jakarta. The Philippines urged China on Sunday to recall more than 200 Chinese boats it said had been spotted at a reef in the South China Sea, saying the presence of the vessels violated its maritime rights as it claims ownership of the area.

Authorities said the Philippines coast guard had reported that about 220 vessels, believed to be manned by Chinese maritime militia personnel, were seen moored at the Whitsun Reef, which Manila calls the Julian Felipe Reef, on March 7.

"We call on the Chinese to stop this incursion and immediately recall these boats violating our maritime rights and encroaching into our sovereign territory," Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana said.

The Philippine military had conducted air and maritime patrols in the South China Sea to further validate the report, spokesman Marine Major General Edgard Arevalo said, but did not say when.

The military had submitted its findings to other government agencies, and they would be used as basis for taking "appropriate actions not limited to filing diplomatic protests", he said in a statement, without elaborating.

"The (Armed Forces of the Philippines) will not renege from our commitment to protect and defend our maritime interest within the bounds of the law," Arevalo said.

Chinese boats have fished near the reef for a long time, and recently, some have been sheltering in the area due to sea conditions, said China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Monday.

"I think this is very normal, and hope all sides can view this rationally," she said at a daily news conference.

Foreign minister Teodoro Locsin, asked whether he would file a diplomatic protest over the boats, told a journalist on Twitter: "Only if the generals tell me. In my watch, foreign policy is the fist in the iron glove of the armed forces."

The vessels are fishing boats believed to be manned by Chinese military-trained personnel, according to Philippines security officials.

The vessels' presence in the area raises concern about overfishing and the destruction of the marine environment, as well as risks to safe navigation, a Philippine cross-government task force said late on Saturday.

An international tribunal invalidated China's claim to 90% of the South China Sea in 2016, but Beijing does not recognise the ruling. China has built islands in the disputed waters in recent years, putting air strips on some of them.

Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei all claim parts of the sea.

In January, the Philippines protested at a new Chinese law allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, describing it as a "threat of war".

The United States has repeatedly denounced what it called China's attempts to bully neighbours with competing interests, while Beijing has criticised Washington for what it calls interference in its internal affairs.

The Whitsun Reef is within Manila's exclusive economic zone, the task force said, describing the site as "a large boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef at the northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs".

The task force vowed to continue "to peacefully and proactively pursue its initiatives on environmental protection, food security and freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim supports the digitization of Javanese characters to elevate the script to be imbibed into the world's linguistic ecosystem.

"This good initiative needs to be further supported to consider and elevate the position of the Javanese script in the world's linguistic ecosystem," Makarim noted while delivering a speech at the 1st Javanese Script Congress held offline and online here on Monday.

Makarim affirmed that by applying digital technology, the local culture would be able to gain recognition in the midst of global developments that necessitate modernity.

The minister highlighted the importance of ensuring the survival of the Javanese script in the world's language ecosystem currently dominated by the Latin script.  

Swift developments in information technology had also generally confirmed this dominance, thereby resulting in Javanese characters being ignored. It is apparent from the use of Latin characters in some application platforms.

"The Javanese script struggles to survive in the midst of the everyday use of Latin script by us," the minister stated.

Hence, the conservation of local culture by utilizing digital technology is one of the strategies to promote and prioritize culture that must be utilized by the Education and Culture Ministry.

"We welcome the Javanese Script Congress, one of which discusses the strategy of integrating Javanese characters into a digital platform," he stated.

In the meantime, Chairperson of the 1st Javanese Script Congress Committee Setyo Prasojo noted that the congress, to be held until March 26, 2021, will discuss various aspects, including the transliteration of Javanese-Latin characters, writing system, digitization, and policies for their use in the public domain.

Prasojo remarked that four aspects will be discussed at the commission meeting. Each commission is attended by 20 offline participants and 180 online participants.

Before the congress, focus group discussions were held involving stakeholders, academics, and experts.

Various parties attending the Javanese Script Congress comprised government representatives and experts and participants from Central Java, East Java, Bali, Banten, DKI Jakarta, and Hong Kong. (Antaranews)