Immunization Target Hinges on Availability of Vaccine Stocks: Official

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government’s plan of vaccinating 181.5 million Indonesians against the coronavirus hinges on the availability of vaccines, spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, said.

"As we know, the vaccine stocks are limited and all (vaccine producers) are trying to speed up production," he said during an online discussion originating on Saturday.

In addition to limited vaccine stocks, a mutation of the virus could also pose a threat to the administration of COVID-19 vaccines to the people in the country, he observed.

The number of people to be vaccinated is not in proportion to the availability of vaccines, he pointed out. Consequently, all countries, including Indonesia, are competing with one another to get vaccines from suppliers, he said.

All sides can plan to vaccinate one million people per day, but they will find it difficult to realize the plan, he added.

"Certain Indonesian regions, including Jakarta, can achieve the target of vaccinating one million people in a day. But other regions will have difficulties achieving the target due to geographical constraints," he said.

Hence, the vaccination program may last longer or be faster than expected, he said.

To speed up the vaccination program, the current vaccine stocks need to suffice for 181.5 million Indonesians, he pointed out.

The government has set a target of inoculating 181,554,464 people, or 70 percent of the total Indonesian population, with the aim of building herd immunity against the coronavirus.

So far, 1,017,186 Indonesian healthcare workers out of the targeted 1,468,764 have received COVID-19 vaccine shots, according to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force on February 11, 2021.

Of the 1,017,186 healthcare workers who have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 345,605 have been administered their second dose, too, it stated.

Each person covered by the vaccine program will require to be administered two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This means that Indonesia will need 362 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate 181 million people.

Up until now, Indonesia has received 28 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine from Sinovac.

Meanwhile, it has ordered COVID-19 vaccines from various sources: 125 million doses from China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd; 100 million doses from US-Canada's Novavax; 100 million doses from British AstraZeneca; 100 million doses from Germany-US Pfizer vaccine; and, 16-100 million doses of free vaccines from the GAVI COVAX Facility, as part of a multilateral cooperation coordinated by the WHO.

In addition, the nation is also developing its indigenous vaccine, named Red and White after the national flag.

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 ANTARA