Indonesia’s Bio Farma to Get 50M Doses of Covid-19 Bulk Vaccine Starting November

BANDUNG, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian vaccine manufacturer PT Bio Farma will receive 50 million doses of the Covid-19 bulk vaccine from China-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

This was agreed after both companies signed the Preliminary Agreement of Purchase and Supply of Bulk Production of Covid-19 Vaccine in Hainan, China on August 20.

The signing was witnessed by Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, who is also the chief executive of the Covid-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee.

Also read: Indonesia, China Hold Meeting on Covid-19 in Hainan

“The bulk vaccine will be received by Bio Farma from November 2020 to March 2021,” said Erick in a statement received by Kompas.com on August 21.

Each month PT Bio Farma will receive 10 million doses of the bulk vaccine from November to March.

Based on the agreement, Erick said, Bio Farma will not only process and distribute the vaccines but also it will receive the transfer of technology from its counterpart.

“Through this visit we want to ensure that our healthcare industry will get a win-win solution under the cooperation between Bio Farma and Sinovac, emphasizing the transfer of knowledge and transfer of technology,” Erick said.

Meanwhile, Minister Retno said that the ceremony saw the signing of two agreements, which allow Indonesia to get the Covid-19 bulk vaccine totaling 50 million doses until March 2021, and Bio Farma will get priority for the bulk supply until the end of 2021.

Also read: Indonesia’s Bio Farma to Produce Up to 250 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccines