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Drug regulator approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for Indonesia after 50-million-dose deal
The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has authorized the US-German COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, kicking off delivery of 50 million doses through 2021 with the first shipment in August-September. The news comes just a day after the vaccine developers announced the deal.
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Refrigeration units storing the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine stand in a Swiss Army facility on Dec. 23, 2020, at an undisclosed location in Switzerland. (REUTERS/Clemens Laub/VBS/DDPS/Handout )
T
he Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the agency announced on Thursday, just one day after the vaccine’s United States and German developers revealed a deal to supply 50 million doses to Indonesia this year.
BPOM head Penny Lukito said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, also called Comirnaty, would be given to Indonesians aged 12 years and above under the nationwide vaccination drive.
“We all understand that to [be free of] this pandemic in good time, we must quickly expand coverage of the vaccinations, which in turn requires more types of vaccines,” Penny told a livestreamed press briefing on Thursday.
“We have granted an EUA to [the Comirnaty] vaccine, which adds to the roster of vaccines that can be used in Indonesia, as a follow-up to the agreement between the Health Ministry, PT Pfizer Indonesia and BioNTech SE,” said Penny, referring to a deal between the government and the vaccine developers announced just yesterday.
The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed in Wednesday's announcement.
The commencement of the vaccine’s delivery required the BPOM’s approval, with the latest available Health Ministry data showing a shipment of 8.5 million vaccine doses scheduled for August and September. The remaining 41.5 million doses are to be shipped in batches to the end of the year.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin welcomed the deal in a press release on Wednesday, saying that the vaccine would be used to fast-track the country’s vaccination drive.
