TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - University of Indonesia epidemiologist Pandu Riono on Wednesday encourages people to remain vigilant and strictly abide by the government’s COVID-19 health protocol to help break the chain of transmission despite news of clinical trials on potential vaccines set to be conducted by Sinovac Biotech.

“Continue to practice what has been proven beneficial, maintain physical distances and wear a face mask,” said the epidemiologist on Wednesday. “Don't get distracted as if the funds would be spent on vaccine tests, which are not owned by us.”

He assures that the government will continue to promote health protocols while also increasing testing capacity and contact tracing efforts to suppress the viral spread.

As previously reported, the Indonesian government is currently developing a COVID-19 vaccine in a partnership between state-owned pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma and China’s Sinovac Biotech, which will enter the clinical trial phase in August after 2,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been sent to Indonesia.

Bio Farma director Honesti Basyir said that the tests will be conducted from August 3, 2020, up until January of 2021. The firm also reports that it is preparing facilities capable of producing vaccines in mass parallel to the clinical trials.

Read also: Expert Suspects Multicenter Clinical Trial in Sinovac Partnership

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