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Indonesia ready to start using AstraZeneca jab after suspension
Indonesia is ready to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine made by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca after a brief delay over blood clot concerns.
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Medical workers prepare to administer a COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-through vaccination center in Nusa Dua, Bali, on March 1. (Agence France Presse/Sonny Tumbelaka)
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ndonesia is ready to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine made by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca after a brief delay over blood clot concerns, as the country’s drug regulator and top Muslim clerical body have approved its use.
The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) announced that the vaccine was safe to use, a day after its European Union counterpart, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), had said that its benefits in preventing hospitalizations and deaths outweighed the risk of its side effects. The EMA said the vaccine was not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots.
The BPOM had reviewed the vaccine alongside several other institutions, like the National Commission on Post-Immunization Accidents (Komnas KIPI) and Indonesia's Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), BPOM spokesperson Lucia Rizka Andalusia said, adding that it had also consulted with the World Health Organization and studied investigation reports from drug regulators of other countries.
“COVID-19 case numbers are still high. There may be adverse events [from the vaccines], but the risks of dying of COVID-19 are far higher. That's why the people should still get the vaccine as scheduled,” Lucia told a press briefing on Friday.
Read also: Indonesia delays rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine
The dual-dose AstraZeneca vaccine can be used for people aged 18 years and above with an interval of between eight and 12 weeks. It has an overall efficacy of 62.1 percent and adverse events from the trials are mild to moderate, starting from pains around the injection area to fever, according to Rizka.
More than 70 countries have authorized the vaccine for emergency use, the firm said, as the WHO has also granted it emergency use listing, allowing it to be distributed to over 100 countries through the multilateral initiative COVAX facility. Indonesia is among the recipients from the facility, having received 1.1 million doses on March 8 and expecting another 10 million doses.
