The Indonesian government, in multilateral cooperation with the GAVI Covax Facility by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has succeeded in securing tens of millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed by the adenovirus method, can be used to vaccinate people aged 60 years and over.
GAVI confirmed the allocation of the initial stage of the Corona AstraZeneca vaccine of 13.7 million to 23.1 million doses for Indonesia which will be sent in two stages: 25-35 percent in the first quarter and 65-75 percent in the second quarter of the initial allocation.
“This is a success of our diplomacy. Through COVAX, we get access to free vaccines and in a quick time, it will certainly complement the types of vaccines that already exist today,”
said the spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccine at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmidzi.
“The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of the vaccines that can be used over the age of 60, which we know is the group with the highest mortality rate,” she continued.
The AstraZeneca vaccine still needs to obtain an Emergency Use of Authorisation (EUA) from the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) before it can be used in Indonesia.
Moreover, it will be sent to Indonesia after obtaining the WHO’s Emergency Use Listing, receiving validation from the Independent Allocation of Vaccines Task Force (AIVG) group, and supplied are available from manufacturers according to initial estimates.
The allocation of vaccines from COVAX is said to help countries meet the needs of their vaccination programs. The procurement of vaccines through the GAVI scheme is free of charge for equal access to poor and developing countries to get the COVID-19 vaccine.