TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
After rolling out IndoVac, Jokowi pushes for self-sufficiency in vaccines
Change Size
Health workers vaccinate residents for COVID-19 during a mobile vaccination drive at the Cipedak subdistrict office in South Jakarta on July 13. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has officially rolled out Indonesia's first developed COVID-19 vaccine Indovac for adult primary shots, instructing his administration to seek ways to achieve self-sufficiency in vaccines.
A group of adults received their jabs on Thursday in the event at state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma in Bandung, West Java, marking the launching of the new vaccine.
The company is expected to manufacture around 20 million doses a year for the initial phase of production.
“Next, it can produce 40 million [doses of IndoVac vaccine], and if the market needs more, [the production] can reach around 120 million doses," Jokowi said during the event.
IndoVac – previously called the State-owned Enterprises (BUMN) vaccine – is a recombinant subunit vaccine that was developed by Bio Farma in cooperation with Texas-based Baylor College of Medicine beginning in June of last year.
The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) approved IndoVac for emergency use late last month. The homegrown vaccine has also been granted a halal certificate, meaning it can be administered in line with the Islamic faith in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
"This is the result of hard work by our young generation, who managed to develop the new vaccine," Jokowi said.
