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JACARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia on Sunday received its first shipment of CoronaVac vaccines, produced by the Sinovac laboratory, against the coronavirus, said President Joko Widodo, as the government prepares a mass inoculation program.
Jokowi, as the president is widely known, said in an online briefing that the Southeast Asian country has received 1.2 million doses of CoronaVac, which has been tested in the country since August.
He added that the government plans to receive an additional 1.8 million doses in early January.
Indonesia is also expected to receive shipments of raw materials this month to produce 15 million doses and materials for 30 million doses next month, the president said.
The vaccine has not yet been evaluated by the country’s food and drug agency (BPOM), while its administration continues to prepare to distribute the vaccine in the vast archipelago of 270 million people, Jokowi said.
“We have been preparing for months through simulations in various provinces and I am sure that as soon as it is decided that we can start vaccination, everything will be ready,” he said.
The daily number of coronavirus infections in Indonesia has accelerated in recent weeks, with the total number of confirmed cases reaching 575,796 on Sunday, with 17,740 deaths, the highest in Southeast Asia.
The CoronaVac that Indonesia received is the same vaccine that is being tested in Brazil in conjunction with the Butantan Institute, linked to the São Paulo government.
Brazil has already received just over 1 million doses of the vaccine and São Paulo Governor João Dória says it will be possible to produce a total of 46 million doses by January.
Dória also reported that it will be possible to start vaccination with CoronaVac from January. However, the Chinese vaccine is not yet in the plans of the Ministry of Health, which speaks of starting vaccination only in January.
(Report by Tabita Diela)
