Indonesia Prepares 350mn Booster Vaccine Jabs

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia will start rolling out booster shots tomorrow, January 12, with more than 350 million ready in stock. The types of Covid-19 vaccines to be used as boosters are Coronavac (Sinovac), AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, and Zifivak.

The Presidential Staff Office's lead expert staff Abraham Wirotomo said that the government had prepared a stock of more than 350 million booster doses for the next six months or until June this year.

"The booster rollout will begin in stages. For January the vaccine stock is 21 million, 35 million for February, 48 million for March, 66 million for April, 83 million for May, and 99 million for June," Abraham said in a written statement, Tuesday, January 11.

The vaccine boosters will be given to people age 18 and above who had received their second doses of vaccines at least six months prior. The government will provide boosters to regencies/cities where 70 percent of the population have received the first dose, and 60 percent for the second dose.

"As for now, there are 244 regencies/cities that have met that requirement," he said.

According to Abraham, the Health Ministry, the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), and the Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) have reviewed the benefits of booster vaccines.

"The booster vaccine has been used in 120 countries. So the public should have nothing to worry about," he said.

Read: Police Probe Allegations over Illegal Sales of Leftover Vaccines as Boosters

DEWI NURITA