TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said COVID-19 vaccine booster doses would be primarily allocated to healthcare workers, support workers of health facilities, the elderly, and contribution assistance recipients (PBI).

“Biofarma will distribute the vaccine booster doses and this can be carried out either through homologous or heterologous methods,” he said in a release on Monday, December 27, 2021.

As for the self-paid (Mandiri) booster shots, he continued, would target those outside the groups included in the Booster Dose Vaccination Program. The distribution of the vaccine in the Mandiri program will be done by Bio Farma and/or other pharmacies that meet the standards of vaccine delivery/logistics, vaccinations, and can be executed through either homologous or heterologous ways, Airlangga said.

“The [implementation of the] Booster Dose Vaccine Program is also still awaiting the reports and recommendations of ITAGI (The Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization) on January 10, 2022,” he added.

Airlangga also shed light on the progress of the Merah Putih vaccine and the State-owned Enterprises Ministry (BUMN) vaccine. He said the vaccine that was jointly developed by UNAIR (Airlangga University) and PT Biotis was still waiting for the approval for its first phase clinical trial from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) in December 2021, while the second and the third phases in January-June 2022.

Read: Vaccine Booster Not Urgent in Indonesia, Says Epidemiologist

MUHAMMAD HENDARTYO