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Scientific rigor key to local vaccine development: Jokowi
Indonesia has two locally developed candidate vaccines: the Merah Putih vaccine, being developed by a national consortium led by the Research and Technology Ministry, and the Nusantara vaccine, initiated by former health minister Terawan Agus Putranto.
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Journalists wait to receive their first dose fo COVID-19 during a vaccination drive in Senayan, Jakarta on Feb. 25, 2021. Around 5,500 journalists in the capital will be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Friday that the government supported the domestic development of COVID-19 vaccines, provided researchers adhered to scientific principles to ensure their safety and efficacy.
Indonesia has two locally developed candidate vaccines: the Merah Putih vaccine, being developed by a national consortium led by the Research and Technology Ministry, and the Nusantara vaccine, initiated by former health minister Terawan Agus Putranto.
The Health Ministry, United States biotechnology firm AIVITA Biomedical and East Java-based pharmaceutical company Rama Emerald Multi Sukses were listed as sponsors of the Nusantara candidate vaccine.
“To produce safe and qualified vaccines, [the researchers] need to also follow scientific principles. The clinical trials should be conducted transparently, involve many experts and be in line with the procedures,” Jokowi said on Friday. “These requirements are important to prove that the vaccine development process is scientifically accountable so that the vaccines are safe and effective.”
He added that the government would encourage the accelerated production of local vaccines once they were proven to have satisfied the scientific requirements.
Jokowi made the statement shortly after lawmakers grilled the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) in a hearing on Wednesday over what they perceived to be the agency’s unequal treatment of the Nusantara candidate vaccine. They suggested the agency had unfairly favored foreign-made vaccines and the Merah Putih candidate vaccine.
The lawmakers also pressured BPOM to issue the permit for the second phase of the Nusantara trials by March 17. Otherwise, they would establish a team to mediate between the agency and the Nusantara researchers.
