TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The COVID-19 Mitigation and National Economic Recovery Committee (KPC-PEN) chairman, Airlangga Hartarto, confirmed that the COVID-19 Vaccination program was slated to commence mid-January 2021 or next week.

“The government will soon begin the vaccination scheduled in the middle of this month or next week. And of course, this awaits the emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and the halal certification,” said Airlangga after an internal meeting on the pandemic handling at Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Monday, January 4, 2021.

The BPOM, he added, would soon get the results of the phase-III interim tests by the research team in Bandung, which would then be compared with the test results issued by other countries, such as Turkey, Chile, and Brazil, that were also conducting clinical trials of the Sinovac vaccine candidate.

The Health Ministry’s spokesperson for the COVID-19 vaccine, Siti Nadia Tarmidzi, said that if the BPOM issued the emergency use, the COVID-19 Vaccination program could be carried out immediately in 34 provinces in stages.

“It will take 15 months, from January 2021 to March 2022, to complete the vaccination program in 34 provinces and reach a total population of 181.5 million people,” said Siti during the online press conference on Sunday.

Read: Govt Eyeing to Commence COVID-19 Vaccination Mid-January

DEWI NURITA