Home Affairs Minister: Indonesia Must Find Coronavirus Vaccine to Beat Pandemic

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – To combat the Covid-19 pandemic, the country must find a coronavirus vaccine, said Indonesia’s Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian at a press conference at the Ministry of Home Affairs on June 18.

Echoing the statement of Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartanto earlier this month, Tito Karnavian said that Indonesia will need access to millions of coronavirus vaccines.

Read also: Indonesia Seeks Partners for Coronavirus Vaccine Production

“Mister Airlangga Hartanto has already stated that 170 million Indonesians will need to be vaccinated or around two-thirds of the country’s total population,” said Tito Karnavian.

The production and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine in Indonesia will require ample time.

The government estimates that each individual will require a minimum of two shots of the coronavirus vaccine, thus it can expect to need 340 million vaccines.

“The quickest scenario is we will find a coronavirus vaccine at the earliest by mid-2021, therefore, by the end of 2022 or even mid-2022, the Covid-19 virus will be past us,” said Tito Karnavian.

Indonesia’s search for a vaccine production partner

On June 10, Airlangga Hartanto shared President Joko Widodo’s call to prioritize partnerships with countries that have a smaller population for the production of a coronavirus vaccine.

The decision was based on the consideration that the smaller the population, the smaller the demand for a vaccine.

Read also: Indonesia’s Covid-19 Cases Officially Highest in ASEAN

As such, the Indonesian government has identified countries such as South Korea, France, and Denmark as ideal partners in the co-production of a coronavirus vaccine.

Aside from a nationwide effort to find a coronavirus vaccine, Indonesia has also taken the extra step of ensuring that such a vaccine be affordable and accessible for everyone.

Indonesia is one of two ASEAN member countries that have endorsed the World Health Organization’s ‘Solidarity Call to Action’.

The WHO-led initiative will make the coronavirus vaccine public health goods.

Clinical trials under way

Pharmaceutical company Kalbe Farma and South Korean company Genexine have developed a coronavirus vaccine that is currently under clinical trials.

Head of the National Covid-19 Task Force Wiku Adisasmito said that the first clinical trial of the coronavirus vaccine started in June in South Korea.

Read also: Kalbe Farma Set to Test Covid-19 Vaccine

Indonesia will be involved in the second phase of clinical trials scheduled to take place in August 2020.

The objective of that phase is to determine whether the coronavirus vaccine can effectively kill the Covid-19 virus.

Part of Kalbe Farma and Genexine’s partnership also encompasses research to identify the genome of the coronavirus strain that is spreading in Indonesia. 

(Writer: Dian Erika Nugraheny | Editor: Kristian Erdianto) 

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/06/18/18342601/mendagri-indonesia-harus-mampu-temukan-vaksin-covid-19