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JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Indonesia will begin distributing the vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech to all of its 34 provinces on Sunday (Jan.3), Kompas reported.
The Health Ministry will carry out the distribution in parallel with testing the vaccines manufactured by the Chinese company, the newspaper said, citing the ministry’s vaccination spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi.
The most populous nation in Southeast Asia aims to start vaccines as soon as the food and drug regulator approves the vaccine and issues an emergency use authorization, Kompas was quoted as saying.
Indonesia’s national vaccination process will take about 15 months, with initial priority given to the country’s 1.3 million health workers, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in a statement on Saturday (Jan.2 ).
The country registered more than 758,000 virus cases as of January 2, with 22,555 deaths. The positivity rate is reaching 30 percent, much higher than the World Health Organization’s 5 percent recommendation, showing that the tests have not been spread far enough.
Indonesia has signed multiple agreements with companies such as AstraZeneca and Novavax, while developing its own Merah Putih vaccines to ensure the country has enough vaccines for its 268 million people.
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