What Covid-19 Vaccine Boost Shots Will Cost in Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The state-owned pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma is currently still waiting for the government’s decision on the price of the Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for the public.

“The government with the help of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) will determine the cost of the Covid-19 vaccine booster shots,” said Bio Farma’s head of service operations Erwin Setiawan in virtual talks on Thursday, November 18.

However, the price range of the Covid-19 booster shots could refer to the cost of mutual cooperation vaccination, which is the paid vaccination scheme conducted by the private sector.
“The cost of mutual cooperation vaccination is about $13, while the service fee is $8,” Erwin said.

Also read: Indonesia Approves Sinovac Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use in Children Aged 6 to 11

“That may be the reference at this time for the paid vaccine scheme which is done by legal entities and business entities,” he said.

Erwin said that research on the distribution of booster shots will be conducted by the producer of the Sinovac vaccine and Bio Farma in January next year. The research will still be conducted even though the vaccine producer had carried out previous studies about the booster shots which results turned out good.

“The results were quite good, which provided significant increased protection in the Sinovac booster vaccine,” he said.

Previously, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the booster vaccine shots could be administered after more than 50 percent of the target recipients were vaccinated.

During his meeting with the House of Representatives at the time, he said that the booster shot issue remains sensitive globally because many people in Africa have not received the Covid-19 vaccine while people in several developed countries have received their booster shots.

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

“In other countries, booster shots were administered after 50 percent of their population received their complete vaccination. And we expect this to happen in December,” he said during the meeting.

In December, it is hoped that 59 percent of the targeted population would receive their complete vaccination and 80 percent had received the first shot.

He said that the high-risk elderly and the contribution assistance recipients (PBI) of the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) will be prioritized to receive free booster shots.

Furthermore, he said, people who are included in the paid booster vaccination category can choose the type of vaccine they want to inject. Those who pay for the booster shots can choose which vaccine they get.

(Writer: Haryanti Puspa Sari | Editor: Bayu Galih)

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/11/18/14194971/booster-vaksin-covid-19-akan-berbayar-bio-farma-ungkap-kisaran-harga.