Iqbal Mochtar

Doha

The Indonesian government has preordered 50 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese pharma giant Sinovac Biotech. The potential vaccine will be delivered in the form of vaccine bulks and is scheduled to arrive gradually, starting in November.

State-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma will examine and modify the potential vaccine as needed while waiting for completion of phase 3 of the clinical trial. If all goes well, the government plans to begin a COVID-19 vaccination program in early 2021. For this project, the government has allocated Rp 37 trillion (US$2.5 billion), with Rp 3.3 trillion disbursed this year for the down payment for the order.

The question is whether the vaccine procurement program is a proper strategy to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is still no specific and permanent treatment for COVID-19. Although health protocols such as maintaining physical distance, wearing masks and handwashing can lessen the reproduction number of the virus up to a point, their effects are temporary. Various types of available drugs, including antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immune-based therapies, have not provided effective outcomes.

In the face of such circumstances, a potential vaccine has become a pedestal of hope. Vaccines have proven to be one of the most effective means of controlling infectious diseases. In the United States, they have been successful in reducing disease rates dramatically, with the effectiveness varying from 87 percent in pertussis to 100 percent in diphtheria, smallpox and polio.

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