The minister said during an online press conference on Wednesday that the co-chairs were voted for virtually on Friday and that the results were announced early on Tuesday.

“Thank God, Indonesia garnered [a plurality of the] votes with 41 percent,” Retno said, adding that Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse and Canadian International Development Minister Karina Gould had been appointed the other two co-chairs of the multilateral effort.

She noted that all of the newly elected co-chairs were women.

 

Honoured to be elected as Co-Chair #COVAX AMC Engagement Group today in Geneva (12/01) pic.twitter.com/ESP0bGZJUR

— Menteri Luar Negeri Republik Indonesia (@Menlu_RI) January 13, 2021

 

“[The results] exemplify the international community’s trust, particularly that of the developing nations, in Indonesia,” Retno said. “This is a major responsibility for Indonesia.”

Through the global cooperative effort, donor countries are expected to allocate vaccines to 3 to 20 percent of the population in each of the 92 recipient nations.

According to GAVI's website, funding for the AMC is fully separated from that of the COVAX Facility, meaning that the AMC is not involved in cross-subsidies through self-financing participants.

The funds will mainly come from the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program, as well as contributions from the private sector and philanthropic organizations.

Retno said her team at the Indonesian Embassy in Geneva, Switzerland, had been intensively coordinating with GAVI with regard to the recent development.

“I have also reached out to the two other co-chairs to establish communication,” she added.

Retno claimed that, thanks to the government’s constant line of communication with the World Health Organization (WHO) and GAVI, vaccines procured through the multilateral channel could be expected to be available in Indonesia as soon as the second quarter of this year – earlier than the previous projection of either the third or fourth quarter.

Indonesia submitted a vaccine request to COVAX Facility in December 2020. Three months prior, the government had agreed to participate in the effort, led by the WHO, the GAVI vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

The initiative aims to equitably distribute 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo received the country’s first COVID-19 shot on Wednesday, marking the start of the government’s mass vaccination drive to curb further transmission of the virus.

The inoculation of the 59-year-old leader followed contentious public discourse surrounding the efficacy, as well as possible adverse effects, of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech.

Indonesian drug regulators previously announced that the vaccine’s efficacy stood at a relatively low 65.3 percent, according to tests performed in Bandung, West Java.

The government had negotiated firm orders of some 330 million doses and optional supplies of 330 million more from Sinovac, the United States’ Novavax and Pfizer, the United Kingdom’s AstraZeneca and the COVAX Facility.

As of Tuesday, Indonesia had reported nearly 850,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases and close to 25,000 deaths.