Indonesia Highlights Regional Vaccine Production In COVAX Meeting

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi in a press conference on Wednesday said Indonesia is ready to be a production hub for Covid-19 vaccines in the Asia-Pacific region. This statement came after a virtual meeting with the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) Engagement Group (EG) led by the Minister. 

“Vaccine producers must be able to increase their production capacity and it is time for developed nations to be included in the global vaccine supply chain,” said Retno Marsudi on September 29, Antaranews reported. 

Increasing production or vaccine supply is considered to be an essential strategy to reach the 70 percent vaccination goal by mid-2022 and in order to reach that goal, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the world would need at least 11 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses available.

Apart from increasing production, Indonesia has also pushed for the dose-sharing mechanism where countries with oversupply of vaccines share with middle-to-low income countries. Another issue mentioned by the Minister in the meeting is related to vaccine discrimination which happens when countries restrict international travel based on vaccine types.

Minister Retno Marsudi also emphasized the importance of transparency among countries with oversupply of Covid-19 vaccine doses which can prevent a situation where the vaccines expires before it can be used to inoculate people. 

Read: Indonesia Pushing Vaccine Rollouts in Level 4 PPKM Areas

ANTARA