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“[Bio Farma] distributed more than 700 thousand ready-to-use vials of the vaccine on January 3 and 4,” he said on Monday, January 4. “401,240 vials were sent to 14 provinces on January 3, while 313 thousand vials of were distributed to 18 provinces.”

The majority of the vaccines on the first day of shipments were sent to East Java with 77,760 vials, followed by Central Java with 62.560 vials and Bali with 31.000 vials.

Bio Farma earmarked most of the vaccines on the second day of shipments on January 4, 2021 to Jakarta, which received 39.200 vials. South Sulawesi received the second highest supply with 30.000 vials, and Yogyakarta is third with 26.800 vials.

Iwan added that the vaccines’ use is “pending the Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Agency [BPOM].”

However, West Java and West Sulawesi have yet to receive the vaccines. Bio Farma has yet to disclose the reasons for the omission.

Indonesian Public Upbeat About 2021

A survey conducted by Kompas revealed that a majority of Indonesians are ready to start anew in 2021, following a tough past year dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic and its fallout.

“85.5 percent of respondents are confident that Indonesia can bounce back in 2021. 78.9 percent of them are confident that Indonesia’s social, economic and political conditions will improve next year,” said Kompas of the survey. The pandemic still loomed large in the participants’ mind.

But they noted that a curative approach to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic is still needed, as “31.2 percent of participants believe that the central and local government can improve health services.”

Kompas conducted the survey between December 21 to 23 2020. 519 respondents from all walks of life participated in the questionnaire, which was conducted in Indonesia’s 34 provinces. The survey has a 95 percent accuracy rate with 4.30 percent margin of error.