VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 16 - A total of 146,738 Indonesians received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, taking the total tally to 4,166,862 since the vaccination campaign was rolled out on January 13, 2021.

Of the 4,166,862 people, at least 1,572,786 have received their second vaccine shot, up 112,564 compared to the previous day, according to data from the COVID-19 Response Task Force.

The central government is aiming to inoculate 181,554,465 people, or 70 percent of the total Indonesian population, to build herd immunity against the coronavirus.

To achieve the target, the government is making efforts to increase the capacity of vaccination services.

The first phase of the vaccination program, which commenced on January 13, 2021, targeted healthcare workers.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the vaccination program began on February 17, 2021 and is seeking to cover 30 million people — 21 million senior citizens and 16 million public service officers, including state officials, government employees, religious figures, traders, teachers, lecturers, athletes, journalists, and tourism operators.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said he is optimistic that about 1.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine would be administered daily to the public in the second semester of 2021 to achieve the vaccination target.

"Nearly 75 percent of the vaccine will be ready starting from July (2021). If 181.5 million doses (of the vaccine) are to be offered over 365 days, then one million people need to be vaccinated everyday, if the quantity of vaccines is the same for each day. Much of the vaccines will be available in the second semester of 2021," he informed. (Antaranews)

Mar. 16 - The government is planning to secure 426 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the national vaccination program, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.

“For the vaccines, we plan to buy 426 million doses of vaccines. Of the total, the prices and delivery schedules of 275 million doses have been confirmed,” Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said during a hearing with Commission IX of the House of Representatives here on Monday.

The prices and delivery schedules of the remaining 151 million doses of vaccines are yet to be confirmed as the government is waiting for free vaccines from the COVAX Facility, coordinated by the WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), he explained.

Beside the government-purchased doses for the national vaccination program that will be distributed for free to the public, the government is also planning to secure COVID-19 vaccines for Gotong Royong, the self-funded vaccination program under which private companies would provide vaccines free to employees.

To ensure that the Gotong Royong program does not affect the implementation of the national vaccination program, the private sector will use different vaccines than those currently offered by the government, he added.

Vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Pfizer are being administered under the government's vaccination program. The self-funded vaccination program will use Sinopharm and Moderna vaccines, the minister informed. So far, Indonesia has received 11.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX Facility. Based on the latest information, Indonesia may receive 54 million to 108 million doses of vaccines, Sadikin said.

"If you can get as much as possible for free, then you don't need to buy bilateral vaccines. This is still on the move. We all know that (procurement of) vaccines remains a worldwide struggle," he added.

In line with the Health Minister's Regulation (Permenkes) on the Gotong Royong vaccination program, issued on March 5, 2021, the government has tasked state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Biofarma with vaccine procurement. The company will also coordinate with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) on vaccine procurement.

"The one that will purchase Gotong Royong vaccines will be Biofarma as a state-owned company. Then Biofarma can sell them to corporations. And corporations must give them for free to employees and their families. Biofarma has been deliberately (tasked) to buy these vaccines to ensure that the vaccines are genuine as Biofarma is already engaged in this field," Sadikin explained.

The Ministry of Health is still waiting for the price and quantity of Moderna and Sinopharm vaccines to be set, based on the agreement between Biofarma and Kadin. Once the amount and price are agreed on, the Ministry of Health will issue a regulation, he said.

"In order to not affect the government program, different locations for health service facilities have been determined. The Gotong Royong will use private facilities. But the same database will be used so that we can monitor who has been vaccinated and monitor the Post-Immunization Influence Incidents (KIPI). Hence, it could be guarded jointly, " Sadikin said. (Antaranews)

Mar. 16 - Indonesia’s imports rose by 14.86 percent year on year to reach US$13.26 billion in February, 2021 — recording their first double-digit growth since June, 2020, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported.

Compared to the previous month, imports in February this year showed a decline of 0.49 percent, BPS chief Suhariyanto informed during an online press conference on Monday.

The drop was mainly caused by a 15.59-percent decline (month on month) in oil and gas imports, he explained adding that non-oil/non-gas imports grew by 1.54 percent for the same period.

In February, 2021, imports rose by 14.86 percent (year on year), with non-oil/non-gas imports rising 22.03 percent and oil and gas imports plummeting 25.37 percent, he said.

"Oil and gas imports, which declined, include crude oil imports, which tumbled 62.3 percent, and oil product imports, which declined 18.75 percent. However, gas imports still increased," he added.

According to BPS data, the import of capital goods in February, 2021 rose 9.08 percent month on month and 17.68 percent year on year. The imports of machines and electrical appliances increased US$172.8 million, the agency reported.

"Taking into account the import structure in February, 2021 that 75 percent of the import comprised raw materials, the prospect for imports is promising because it indicates the movement of industries, which will eventually attract investment," Suhariyanto said.  (Antaranews)

Mar. 15 -  A Hong Kong scientist has developed a method to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to scan retinas of children as young as six to detect early autism or the risk of autism and hopes to develop a commercial product this year.

Retinal eye scanning can help to improve early detection and treatment outcomes for children, said Benny Zee, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“The importance of starting early intervention is that they are still growing, they are still developing. So there is a bigger chance of success,” Zee said.

His method uses a high-resolution camera with new computer software which analyses a combination of factors including fibre layers and blood vessels in the eye.

The technology can be used to identify children at risk of autism and get them into treatment programmes sooner, said Zee.

Seventy children were tested using the technology, 46 with autism and a control group of 24. The technology was able to identify the children with autism 95.7 percent of the time. The average age tested was 13, with the youngest being six.

Zee’s findings have been published in EClinicalMedicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Autism specialists welcomed his findings but said there remained a huge stigma, with parents often reluctant to believe their children have autism even when there are clear signs.

“Many times, parents will initially be in denial,” said Dr Caleb Knight, who runs a private autism therapy centre.

“If you had a medical test or biological marker like this, it might facilitate parents not going into denial for longer periods and therefore the child would get treatment more quickly.”

Children with autism have to wait around 80 weeks to see a specialist in the public medical sector, according to an emailed statement from Hong Kong’s government.

Zee told Reuters that his research is intended to be a supplemental tool to a professional assessment by licensed healthcare professionals. (Reuters)