Health Ministry Says AstraZeneca Vaccine Rollout Not Halted But Suspended
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16 March 2021 19:40 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Spokesperson for Covid-19 Vaccination from the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, confirmed that the government did not halt the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but just suspended it.
“Why did the Health Ministry suspend the distribution? Because it applies the precautionary principle. This means we are following BPOM's instruction,” said Nadia in a virtual press conference on Tuesday, March 16.
Nadia said the Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) along with the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI) and experts were conducting a further study on the use of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca following news that several recipients in European countries suffered blood clots.
The Health Ministry was previously determined to use 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine which arrived in Indonesia on March 8, for the second phase of the vaccination program targeting public service workers and elderlies.
“So we are waiting for this process while checking the physical products and monitoring the quality control whether or not any vials are damaged, the packaging is in good condition, etc., we will confirm those first,” said Nadia.
Read: BPOM Approves Emergency Use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 Vaccine
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