Indonesia Receives 14 Million Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine from Sinovac

Tangerang, MINA – A total of 14 million doses of raw material (bulk) for the CoronaVac vaccine from Sinovac arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten on Wednesday afternoon.

“Today, we have received 14 million doses of vaccine from Sinovac, China, in the form of raw materials. So that the total vaccine raw materials from Sinovac that have come to us are 105 million doses of vaccine,” said Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin in his press statement welcoming the arrival of the vaccine.

The arrival is the 18th arrival of vaccines from all vaccines imported by the government. The Minister of Health said that the vaccine raw materials that had arrived in the country would be processed to become a finished vaccine at PT Bio Farma.

“This is still in the form of raw materials, meaning that it takes about a month to process at Bio Farma to become a ready-to-use vaccine. From this 105 million (dose) there will be 85 million vaccines so that we can use it and it will be ready one month after now,” he said.

The Minister of Health further said that the government continues to strive to maintain the supply of vaccines for vaccination purposes, which also continues to be intensified.

“The number of vaccines entering Indonesia will increase over time. There is another free vaccine donation from COVAX-GAVI, we will also enter this month from AstraZeneca, in August it will come from Pfizer,” he said.

To achieve herd immunity, the government targets to vaccinate around 181.5 million Indonesians. The Minister of Health reminded that even though they have been vaccinated, there is still the possibility of being exposed to COVID-19, but with a lower severity.

“This vaccine doesn’t make us 100 percent immune like Superman. This vaccine makes our immune system better, so that if we are exposed to [COVID-19], those who should be seriously ill become mildly ill, those who should be mildly ill become asymptomatic. But we remember that we can still be infected, the most dangerous thing is that we can still transmit it,” he said.

Therefore, Budi again reminded all parties to remain disciplined in implementing the 3M health protocol (wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining distance).

“If there are no necessary activities, stay at home, so that we can reduce the rate of transmission, protect ourselves, but also protect our families, our neighbors, and all Indonesian people,” he said. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)