Jakarta 14th January 2021 – Indonesia approved Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way to start its inoculation program. This vaccine was found to be about 65% effective against Covid-19 in late stage-trials in the city of Bandung, said the head of the food and drug regulatory agency, in a press briefing last week[[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-11/sinovac-s-covid-vaccine-approved-by-indonesia-for-emergency-use]] . The vaccine was said to be effective in preventing mild cases of the virus infection and also against severe and moderate infections. The regulator also considered data from clinical trials in other countries in making the decision, she said. The emergency use authorization in Indonesia is the first for Sinovac’s vaccine outside of China.
To date, Indonesia has reported nearly 900 thousand cases and the virus has killed over 25 thousand people since first cases were confirmed on 02nd March 2020. The arrival of the first phase of the Covid-19 vaccine totaling 1.2 million doses of Sinovac on December 6, 2020, has attracted the attention of the public. The government is preparing to implement a large COVID-19 vaccination. Strategies are evolving across the region and Indonesia is battling the worst outbreak in Southeast Asia. A spokesperson for Indonesia’s Ministry of Health said: “18 to 59 year-olds is the age group that gets most infections and mostly without symptoms.”[[https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-indonesia-vaccine-rollout-bucks-trend-by-targeting-younger-generations-12188490]] So targeting this “mobile” age group first will likely protect them from spreading the virus around and have an impact on transmission.
More information available at https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-roll-outs-in-asean-asia-live-updates-by-country/ ; https://www.biofarma.co.id/id/penjelasan-bio-farma-mengenai-pre-order-vaksinasi-covid-19-jalur-mandiri/ ; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-08/indonesia-to-start-inoculations-southeast-asia-vaccine-tracker ; https://covid19.go.id/storage/app/media/Hasil%20Kajian/2020/November/vaccine-acceptance-survey-en-12-11-2020final.pdf; https://jakartaglobe.id/news/mass-vaccination-begins-in-indonesia-as-coronavirus-cases-deaths-reach-new-high
