Indonesia Receives First Shipment of Over 200K Covid-19 Vaccine Doses from Japan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia received 224,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as the first shipment of the nearly 2 million doses shared by Japan on Tuesday, October 19.

Under the bilateral scheme between both countries, the 1,990,910 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be shipped six times from October 19-22 this year.

“We received the first batch of the shipment comprising 224,000 doses at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport today,” said Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in a statement on Wednesday, October 20.

Also read: Indonesia Extends Covid-19 Restrictions until Nov. 1

This was not the first time for Indonesia to receive assistance in the form of the Covid-19 vaccine from Japan. Previously, the Southeast Asia country had received 2,161,240 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Japan last July. The vaccine had been distributed to various parts of Indonesia.

This bilateral scheme represents a concrete action following recent discussions with Japan’s Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu on various occasions, including during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23 this year.

Retno said the collaboration had reflected the close friendship between Indonesia and Japan, especially during this challenging time in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Also read: 157 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine Distributed across Indonesia

“As Japan is one of Indonesia’s main economic partners, it is believed that the Indonesia-Japan cooperation will be able to accelerate the economic recovery in both countries after the pandemic,” said Retno.

In addition to the bilateral scheme in the Covid-19 vaccine, Japan has also provided other assistance to overcome the pandemic and increase health resilience. Japan sent assistance in the form of medicines such as Avigan, mobile x-ray, and other supports through international organizations.

(Writer: Deti Mega Purnamasari | Editor: Kristian Erdianto)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/10/20/09440771/indonesia-terima-224000-dosis-vaksin-astrazeneca-dari-jepang.