TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia will today, Jan. 12, receive 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the form of bulk raw materials from China-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac.

The vaccine was transported by Garuda Indonesia aircraft from Beijing at 6:33 a.m. local time or 05:33 Indonesian Western Time (WIB) and was predicted to arrive at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 12:10 WIB on the same day.

“The shipment is in the form of bulk raw materials in special refrigerated containers. It will be further developed and packaged by Bio Farma (state-owned pharmaceutical firm,” said the Deputy Chief of the Indonesian Mission in Beijing to Antara on Tuesday.

Sinovac had previously delivered ready-to-use vaccines to Indonesia twice totaling 3 million doses. Indonesia was one of the first countries that secured the vaccine deal in bulk form after Sinovac and Bio Farma signed a cooperation agreement in Hainan in August 2020.

On December 6, 2020, as many as 1.2 million Covid-19 vaccines arrived in the country. Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, announced earlier that the government was set to kick off the national vaccination program on Wednesday, January 13, 2021.

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ANTARA