The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has launched an independent COVID-19 vaccination scheme, which is estimated to reach at least 20 million workers in the private sector.
Kadin Chairman Rosan P. Roeslani said that companies can start registering for the program, which closes on Feb. 17.
"We estimate that the vaccination program can begin in the first quarter of 2021 to the beginning of the second quarter of 2021," Rosan said in a statement today.
"Forty percent of the total workforce, which amounts to 130 million people, is 52 million people. Therefore, the program may cover half of them, around 26 million people or at least 20 million workers."
The chamber is currently preparing regulations and the technical implementation for the independent vaccination program, finalizations of which are targeted for the third week of February. According to Rosan, the independent vaccination program will only be carried out after the government has concluded vaccinations for priority recipients, such as health workers and public service officials.
According to Rosan, there's already a huge interest from companies to participate in the independent vaccination scheme, especially labor-intensive companies and those that are located in the COVID-19 red zones. Private companies that have signed up for the program have come from banking, manufacturing, textile, and logistics sectors, among others, and they range in size from SMEs to large companies.
Rosan said that cost for the vaccines will not be borne by the employees, as their respective companies will foot the bill. Furthermore, the program will use other vaccines that are not part of the government's free vaccination program. Indonesia is currently administering CoronaVac shots from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac, some doses of which are being produced by state pharmaceutical holding company Bio Farma.
Company representatives may sign up for the vaccination program through Kadin's official website.