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JAKARTA: Indonesia is prepared to secure coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, the Minister of Health said on Tuesday (December 29), while awaiting authorization to begin its inoculation program with a third drug, by Sinovac of China.
Budi Gunadi Sadikin said a 50 million dose deal with AstraZeneca would be finalized before the end of the year, and one of the same size with Pfizer in the first week of January.
The first injections of both drugs, which have obtained regulatory approval in many Western countries, are not scheduled to arrive for months, the minister said at his first press conference.
Indonesia plans to start vaccines with the Sinovac treatment, of which it obtained 1.2 million doses this month and expects 1.8 million more in January, once it obtains authorization for emergency use.
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Interim results of its phase III trial are expected to be delivered to the Indonesian Food and Drug Agency next month.
Budi said the country’s 1.3 million frontline health workers would be prioritized in the first wave of vaccinations between January and April.
“They are the most important group of people in our battle against the pandemic,” he told a news conference.
The fourth most populous country in the world has had more than 727,000 confirmed COVID cases and 21,700 deaths, among the highest figures in Asia.
Public servants will be next in line for vaccines, and those in the “red zones” for infection ages 18 to 59 will be prioritized in a second round of vaccinations.
Indonesia is focusing its program on that age range rather than the elderly in an effort to protect the workforce.
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Bambang Heriyanto, corporate secretary of state pharmaceutical Bio Farma, said the strategy would allow Indonesia to achieve herd immunity.
“If herd immunity is achieved, it is to be expected that anyone under 18 and over 59 can also be protected,” he said.
Including Tuesday’s announcement, Indonesia has secured 329 million vaccine doses, including about 125 million from Sinovac, 50 million from Novavax and 54 million from the global COVAX vaccine program.
AstraZeneca vaccines are expected to arrive in the second quarter of 2021 and those from Pfizer in the third quarter, according to a Budi slideshow.
The companies were not immediately available for comment.
IT IS SAFE? IS HALAL?
The vaccine deals were met with mixed reactions on the streets of the capital Jakarta on Tuesday.
“There are many diseases that have no cure, but there is already (a) cure for COVID,” said 25-year-old radio host Cindy Lauw, “I’m just cautious.”
Suhaimi, a 55-year-old retiree, said he would await the results of the trial and news on whether the vaccine was allowed by Islam.
A December poll by Indonesian pollster Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting showed that 37 percent of 1,202 respondents were willing to get vaccinated, while 40 percent would consider it and 17 percent would refuse.
While acknowledging the essential role of vaccines, epidemiologist Pandu Riono cautioned against over-reliance on them.
“Vaccines are the second step in prevention, the first is behavior and surveillance, testing, contact tracing and isolation,” he said.
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