Bandung – State-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma has allocated 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine final product made by China's Sinovac Biotech for health workers in the country, president director Honesti Basyir has said.
Honesti explained that the vaccine would be delivered from China in two phases. The first phase consists of two shipments, the first of which arrived in Indonesia on Sunday evening with 1.2 million doses of the vaccine. The second shipment, which contains 15 million doses of the vaccine, is expected to arrive before the end of December.
The second phase of the delivery will also be in two phases. The first shipment will contain 3 million doses of vaccine, 1.8 million of which will come in a single-dose package in January next year. The second shipment, which contains 30 million doses of vaccine in bulk, will also be delivered at the beginning of the year.
According to Honesti, 568 out of 1.2 million vials had been set aside for a quality check conducted by Bio Farma and the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).
"Bio Farma will focus on storing the vaccine as well as making several preparations for its distribution after obtaining a license to use from the BPOM," Honesti said in a statement obtained by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The arrival of the vaccines, Honesti said, had shown Indonesia's big step to counter the pandemic. He also explained that the vaccine had to meet several requirements, such as safety, efficacy, as well as quality assurance from the authorities, which were proven through preclinical research and clinical trials.
"The candidate vaccine from Sinovac is one of the quickest candidates that entered phase 3 clinical trials," Honesti said.
As for the vaccine development, Bio Farma is using the inactivated platform to produce the vaccine.
"Sinovac's quality system has been recognized by the World Health Organization," Honesti added.
He also said that, after obtaining emergency use authorization from the BPOM, the 3 million doses would be given to health workers following a recommendation from the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI).
The first batch of the vaccine is planned to be administered to health workers in seven provinces in Java and Bali. Afterward, health workers for non-comorbid diseases in other provinces will also receive the shot.
"Hopefully this vaccine will help health workers on the front line to feel safe and protected while treating patients," Honesti said. (adi/dpk)