TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) granted an emergency use authorization for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. The permit was announced on Tuesday, March 9.

“Based on the results of the evaluation and also the consideration of the benefits and risks, BPOM has issued the emergency use authorization on February 22 under the number EUA2158100143A1,” said BPOM Head Penny Lukito in an online press conference.

Previously reported, Indonesia received Monday, March 8, 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine, becoming the first country in Asia to receive the vaccine through a global initiative COVAX managed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

It was the fifth batch of vaccine delivery. In the first and second batch, the government brought in 1.2 million and 1.8 million doses of ready-to-use vaccines. In the third batch, 15 million doses of vaccine in the form of raw materials arrived to be processed by state-owned pharmacy PT Bio Farma. Then, 10 million doses of raw materials of the Sinovac vaccine landed in early February.

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe to use for elderly people over 60 years of age based on the clinical study and tests. President Jokowi previously announced that Indonesia would receive a total of 4.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine this March.

Read: Task Force Ensures No Fake Covid-19 Vaccines in Indonesia

EGI ADYATAMA