Indonesian Foreign Minister Outlines Indonesian-US Initiatives

She added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is continuing multilateral efforts to obtain Covid-19 vaccines through the Covax program and other initiatives.

“We estimate that the Covax facility can provide free vaccines for between three to 20 percent of [Indonesia’s] population,” Retno noted.

“We are still discussing the type of [Covid-19] vaccine, their quantity, and the time of delivery.”

Retno also touched on Indonesia’s standing as a co-chair in the Covax Advanced Market Commitment or AMC-92, a group of middle and low-income countries that will be provided free vaccines by Covax.

She maintained that multilateral and bilateral diplomacy can provide Indonesia with enough Covid-19 vaccines. To date, Indonesia has secured vaccines from the Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Novavax pharmaceutical companies.

The government is currently negotiating with Pfizer dan Moderna to secure vaccines from those pharmaceutical companies. Indonesia plans to immunize more than 181 million people before 2022 to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19.

(Writers: Tsarina Maharani, Deti Mega Purnamasari | Editors: Kristian Erdianto, Bayu Galih, Krisiandi)

Sources:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/26/12560431/rapat-komisi-i-dpr-menlu-paparkan-5-kemitraan-strategis-ri-as. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/21/15345301/menlu-ri-tekankan-pentingnya-asean-ajak-as-hadapi-pandemi-covid-19. 

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/26/11342571/menlu-ri-bisa-dapat-vaksin-covid-19-gratis-hingga-20-persen-penduduk-dari.