Indonesia Signs Request Form to Access Up To 108 Million Doses of Free Covid-19 Vaccine

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati have signed a request form to gain access to free vaccine from the GAVI-coordinated Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility on Thursday, January 7.

The virtual signing ceremony was witnessed by Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy, Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, and Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) head Penny Lukito.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the signing of the request form to GAVI-coordinated COVAX facility is one of the important accomplishments for Indonesia to gain access to a maximum of 108 million free doses of vaccine from GAVI [the Vaccine Alliance],” said Health Minister Budi in a televised statement on Thursday.

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He expressed appreciation for the opportunity to gain access to the free Covid-19 vaccine from GAVI. The government will not pay for obtaining the vaccine. “We are grateful for the free vaccine from GAVI. Indonesia does not have to pay for the vaccine,” Budi said.

He went on to say that several parties have committed to providing Indonesia with the Covid-19 vaccine. China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd will provide 125 million doses of vaccine, 50 million doses of vaccine from AstraZeneca and Novavax, respectively. This means that Indonesia will be receiving a total of 225 million doses of vaccine.

“With the prospective vaccine from Pfizer and prospective 108 million doses of vaccine from GAVI, InsyaAllah [God willing], there will be enough vaccines for 181 million Indonesians,” Budi said.

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Indonesia is currently distributing the vaccines across the country after the arrival of three million doses of vaccine from Sinovac recently.

The mass Covid-19 vaccination program is scheduled to take place next week. During the first batch, the vaccines will be given to healthcare workers, such as doctors and nurses in hospitals followed by members of the military, police, and educators. Then, the general public will be vaccinated at the last batch.

(Writer: Dian Erika Nugraheny | Editor: Bayu Galih)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/07/16452061/menkes-dan-menlu-teken-formulir-pengadaan-108-juta-dosis-vaksin-gratis.