[ad_1]
Indonesia has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. More than 629,000 people have tested positive, while 19,000 have died since the pandemic began.
Now the country is waiting for its food and drug agency to grant regulatory approval for the emergency use of China’s Sinovac Biotech vaccine, the first shipment of which it received in early December.
Once the go-ahead is given, front-line workers, the police, and the military will be first in line. Then Indonesia will begin vaccinating people between the ages of 18 and 59, before prioritizing older members of the population as other countries have done. The idea, officials say, is to solve the problem of asymptomatic transmission among members of society of working age.
Prioritizing population is an obstacle, but other challenges remain: the country is made up of thousands of islands, and ensuring that other vaccines, such as Pfizer and BioNTech, are kept in extremely cold temperatures is a challenge for a country with a warm climate. .
Indonesia is also home to the largest Muslim population in the world. The Islamic religion has restrictions on the consumption of pork, which has raised doubts about the ability of those who practice it to receive some versions of the coronavirus vaccine. This is because some use a common stabilizer, which facilitates transport and storage, made from pork-based gelatin.
In the global edition of the Marketplace Morning Report, Dr. Pandu Riono, professor of epidemiology at the University of Indonesia, spoke with Victoria Craig of the BBC about how the country is meeting challenges to help it weather the pandemic.
Below is an edited version of their conversation.
Dr. Pandu Riono: We focus on the very young because the government is trying to pressure these young people to go to work without fear of infection. Also, most of the youth are the hidden spreaders in our country. So if they got vaccinated then they can protect other groups.
Victoria Craig: So the goal is to quickly achieve a kind of herd immunity. But in reality, distributing this vaccine on thousands of islands in Indonesia is a unique challenge on its own. What are some of the challenges the government faces just shipping the vaccine?
Riono: That’s the biggest challenge in distributing the vaccine, especially if a vaccine needs cooler temperatures, like Modena or Pfizer. It means that the government will focus on the big cities, Java and Bali. That’s because that’s where most of the people in the country live, and we realized that this pandemic is urbanized.
Craig: So how long do you think it could take to vaccinate everyone in Indonesia?
Riono: We don’t need them all. If we get 90% vaccinated, we will have some impact. The government said it will target it so that in a year half of the people in this country are vaccinated, and that is why they targeted 50 million each month.
Craig: So the government wants this vaccine to be free for everyone, but what about trust in the vaccine itself? The Indonesian president has said he will be the first to get vaccinated. Has that increased confidence in him?
Riono: Yes, because you know, a survey said that 56% of respondents agreed to get vaccinated and about 20% still consider it. Another percent will be thinking about it.
Craig: So that’s about 76% of the population planning to get vaccinated or considering it, but it’s not just about trusting the vaccine development process, but the end product also meets religious needs. And Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world. So is the manufacturing process a concern in the country since one of the common stabilizers used in the vaccine is made from pork?
Riono: It is true. That is why the Islamic religious leader, because this is an emergency situation, says that it is still fine, even if [the vaccine] use pork. The Islamic religious leader already supports this idea of getting vaccinated because he says the pandemic is worse than the benefit of vaccines. They considered a vaccine from China, which is made from pork, so the Islamic leader sent a team to verify the process and how they manufacture the vaccine in China.
Craig: And not all vaccines use this stabilizer, right?
Riono: It is true. It is true.
What essential workers should be prioritized for vaccines?
Americans have begun receiving doses of the first COVID-19 vaccine. Frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities will be the first to receive vaccinations, according to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Essential workers will be considered next, but with limited doses of vaccines and many workers considered essential, the maneuver has already begun on which should go to the front of the line: meatpacking workers, pilots, bankers and ride-sharing drivers between they. . CDC will continue to consider how best to distribute the vaccine, but ultimately, it is up to each state to decide who will get vaccinated and when.
Could patents relax help poorer countries get vaccines faster?
The world’s poorest countries may not be able to receive any vaccines until 2024, according to one estimate. To deliver vaccines to the world’s poor sooner than that, some global health activists want to waive intellectual property protections on vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics. India, South Africa and Kenya have called on the World Trade Organization to allow pharmaceutical plants in the developing world to make patented drugs without having to worry about the lawsuits. The United States, Britain and the European Union have repeatedly rejected the proposal at the WTO.
The Pfizer vaccine must be kept in extreme cold at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit. And keeping it so cold requires dry ice. Where does that dry ice come from?
Also, is there enough for everyone? And how much is it going to cost? The demand for dry ice is about to increase and a lot of industries are worried. Now, dry ice sells for between $ 1 and $ 3 a pound. While the vaccine takes precedence, smaller businesses and nonessential industries may end up losing.
As a non-profit news organization, our future depends on listeners like you who believe in the power of public service journalism.
Your investment in the Marketplace helps us stay free of paywalls and ensures that everyone has access to reliable and unbiased news and information, regardless of ability to pay.
Donate today, in any amount, to become a market investor. Now more than ever, your commitment makes all the difference.
