TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) responded to the global withdrawal of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. The agency’s public relations coordinator, Eka Rosmalasari, asserted that the vaccine was no longer available in the country.

Eka explained that the vaccine, which began circulating in 2021 during the pandemic, only obtained the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for distribution and is currently no longer valid.

“It was last distributed in September 2023. The registration process was not resumed. So, the vaccine is no longer in circulation in Indonesia,” Eka said in his written message to Tempo on Thursday, May 16.

She reiterated that the cessation of the vaccine's distribution was not due to the discovery of adverse effects, like those found in the UK. According to her, the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

The BPOM, in tandem with the Expert Team of the National Committee for Covid-19 Vaccine Assessment, pharmacologists, academics, the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), the Health Ministry, and related clinicians, including pulmonologists, have evaluated the vaccine.

Eka claimed that there have been no reports of safety incidents, including TTS (Thrombosis Syndrome with Thrombocytopenia) related to the AstraZeneca vaccine in Indonesia. The BPOM, the Health Ministry, and the National Commission on Post-Immunization Accidents (Komnas KIPI) continued to monitor the situation.

“To date, there have been no reports of TTS cases [in Indonesia], because they are very rare,” she concluded.

SAVERO ARISTIA WIENANTO

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