TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian health ministry will start the distribution of the Sinovac Biotech Covid-19 vaccine across the country Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. China’s production vaccine arrived in Indonesia on December 6 and 30, 2020.

"The [vaccine] distribution to 34 provinces is scheduled to begin on January 3^rd, 2021," the ministry’s secretary-general Oscar Primadi confirmed on Saturday, January 2.

A spokesperson for the Covid-19 vaccination program, Siti Nadia Tarmidzi, said the government is currently doing the preparation, so the vaccination will run well; among others, by conducting data validation. The first priority target of this program is the health workers.

"So, we’re making sure that their data have been submitted and we’ve received it. And then [we’re] making sure that the cold-chain functions well," Nadia told Tempo.

She also informed that the ministry has carried out training for vaccinators in all regions. The socialization program for health workers is also ongoing. “We hope on January 7, all 34 provinces will have received [the vaccine],” she said.

Once the Covid-19 vaccine is distributed, the next step is waiting for the issuance of the emergency use of authorization by the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM,) which is pending the third phase of the vaccine’s clinical trial.

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Egi Adyatama