Task Force Claims Sinovac Vaccine Effective to Tackle New Covid-19 Variant
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4 March 2021 19:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito confirmed that the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine - currently used in Indonesia, is still effective to tackle the new variant of the coronavirus which was first discovered in England, known as B117.
“That said, we ask the public not to worry about the impact of the new virus variant on the vaccine efficacy,” said Wiku in a video conference on Thursday, March 4, 2021.
However, he continued to appeal to the public to comply with the predetermined health protocols, such as maintaining distance from each other, wearing face masks, and washing hands regularly.
The British variant B 117 was detected after the country performed whole genome-sequencing on 462 cases in the country. The results showed there were two cases belonging to migrant workers who had just arrived from Saudi Arabia in January 2021.
As previously reported, the Health Ministry announced two cases of the new Covid-19 variant on March 2, 2021, exactly one year after the first positive cases were found in Indonesia.
Read: Fifth Batch of Sinovac Vaccine Arrives in Indonesia
DEWI NURITA | AHMAD FIKRI
