Indonesia to Produce Homegrown Covid-19 Vaccines Next Year, Chief Minister Confirms

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia will produce its first two types of locally-made Covid-19 vaccines next year to supply domestic demand, said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.

“We have encouraged the development of vaccine industry in Indonesia, where some companies in Indonesia and China will develop a homegrown mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine later in April (2022),” Antara news agency quoted Luhut on Tuesday, August 24.

Besides, the minister added, that Indonesia is also expected to produce the Merah Putih (Red and White) vaccine in the second quarter of 2022.

Also read: Indonesias Former Health Minister Insists on Developing Homegrown Covid-19 Vaccine

To realize the project, the government is working closely with five universities and two other institutions to develop the Merah Putih vaccine. The universities comprise Airlangga University, Gadjah Mada University, University of Indonesia, Padjajaran University, and the Bandung Institute of technology. While the other institutions are the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology (LMB) and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

In the projects, some institutions have entered industrial scale level such as the Eijkman Institute and Bio Farma Ltd., as well as Airlangga University and PT Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia.

“We are now working on the Merah Putih vaccine which is likely to be produced in May-June next year,” he said.

Also read: Indonesia Gearing Up to Produce Homegrown Covid-19 Vaccines

Based on the Ministry of Health, Indonesia has so far administered 90 million doses of Covid-19 shot, placing the country at No. 9 into the list of the world’s covid-19 vaccination program.

This month alone the government has set a target of administering up to 100 million doses of vaccine and achieving 200 million doses of vaccine by the end of 2021 to achieve herd immunity. So that the health system will be protected and strengthened, productivity will be maintained and the social economic impact will be reduced.

(Writer: Muhammad Idris | Editor: Muhammad Idris)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/08/24/220554426/luhut-pastikan-ri-produksi-2-vaksin-covid-tahun-depan.