Global Health Summit: Jokowi Says Indonesia Ready to Increase Vaccine Production

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko Widodo or Jokowi urges world leaders to take real actions in providing fair access for all countries to get Covid-19 vaccines.

"I have to remind us all that we'll be truly safe from Covid-19 if every country is safe. No one is safe until everyone is," said the president in the summit held virtually on Friday evening, May 21.

Several countries, he went on, started the Covid-19 vaccination for low-risk groups, such as children and toddlers, with only 0.3 percent of the global vaccine supply available for low-income countries.

According to Jokowi, the gap was clearly seen when rich countries received 83 percent of the global vaccine supply. The developing countries got the rest 17 percent, while they accommodate 47 percent of the global population.

He, therefore, suggested pushing for the doses-sharing in the Covax Facility scheme. Meanwhile, in the long term, the global society must increase the Covid-19 vaccine production collectively to meet the needs of the vaccine and to eventually develop herd immunity.

Joko Widodo argued that G-20 leaders must support the increase of vaccine production and equal access for all countries. Therefore, Indonesia fully supports a waiver of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Indonesia has decided to be one of the co-sponsor countries of the proposal, hoping that other G-20 countries will follow. "As the largest vaccine producer in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is ready to be the hub in the region in increasing vaccine production," Jokowi remarked.

Read: Indonesia Logs 229 Serious Adverse Events after Covid-19 Vaccination

Antara