Indonesia Health Minister Responds to AstraZeneca Rare Side Effect

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has commented on the issue of rare side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Budi said that the use of the vaccine in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic had gone through the study process conducted by the experts gathered in the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI).

During the trial, Budi admitted that the AstraZeneca vaccine has some risks. This was because humans have different genetics.

According to the Minister, some people do well with the vaccine and some don't. "The consideration was that the benefits of protecting the people are greater than the risks," Budi said at the Merdeka Palace on Friday, May 3.

It is similar to an operation to cure a disease, such as heart surgery, the minister said. "We know that there are some risks in performing surgery. But the benefit to cure the disease, save life, even much greater than the risks.” 

He also said that to date, there is no record of the rare side effect of AstraZeneca's vaccine in Indonesia. Budi suspects that cases of rare side effects occur abroad.

"So again, maybe because of the genetics of the populations, because it's different," Budi said. "Here (in Indonesia), I checked, and there's none."

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has admitted for the first time in court documents that its Covid vaccine may cause rare side effects.

The pharmaceutical company was sued in a class action lawsuit over claims that its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with Oxford University, caused deaths and serious injuries, including TTS - Thrombosis Syndrome with Thrombocytopenia. This syndrome causes people to develop blood clots and low platelet counts.

RIRI RAHAYU | SITA PLANASARI | INDIA EXPRESS

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