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Home-grown vaccines
The country’s bid to emerge from the crisis and build back stronger is facing a serious challenge.
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ost would agree that vaccination will be a game changer in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has not only claimed thousands of lives but also impoverished many more in the country. But with global supplies of the much-needed vaccines limited partly as a result of so-called vaccine nationalism, the country’s bid to emerge from the crisis and build back stronger is facing a serious challenge.
The shortage in vaccine supply has been exacerbated by the recent decision of India, which produces the AstraZeneca vaccine for the Gavi/WHO-backed global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, has halted exports, including 10 million doses to Indonesia, following a spike in infection cases in the country.
Delay in the shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines has impacted on the mass vaccination program, which currently is targeting elderly people and teachers. Spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination at the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the supplies of the vaccine were expected to return to normal in May..
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has insisted that 181.5 million of the country’s population of over 275 million will be vaccinated by the end of the year to help Indonesia achieve herd immunity.
Indonesia relies much on China, one of a few COVID-19 vaccine-producing countries, which has so far shipped more than 56 million doses in the forms of ready-to-use doses and bulk to be produced by state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma.
There is no guarantee that all the vaccines the government has ordered, which reportedly amount to 600 million doses, will arrive on schedule as in the case of AstraZeneca vaccine from India. Producing countries will logically prioritize their own citizens.
With vaccine supplies prone to disruptions, the government has incentivized production of local vaccines, under the Merah Putih (Red and White) program. So far there are six local vaccine candidates, two of them, which will be produced by Eijkman Institute and Airlangga University, are expected to be ready for use this year, according to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
Perhaps we cannot expect the home-grown vaccines to plug the current shortage, but they will ensure sustainability of vaccine supplies in the future. They will play a crucial role, considering that nobody knows when the pandemic will end. Experts have warned it will take the world years to eventually beat COVID-19.
Indonesia, like any other country, will do what it takes to secure vaccine supplies. The new method being developed by former health minister Terawan Agus Putranto is part of the efforts, regardless of the controversy it has caused. A number of public figures and political big-wigs have shown their support for the experimental vaccine, called the Nusantara (Archipelago) vaccine, which is tailored to each recipient through the use of their own antigen-presenting dendritic cells.
It is not the first time that Terawan has stirred controversy. His “brain cleansing” therapy has reportedly saved many from stroke, although the Indonesian Medical Association’s ethics council slapped sanctions on him due to the absence of clinically safe and effective evidence for the treatment.
We definitely need as many vaccines as possible to protect us from COVID-19, but while attempts to produce them deserve support, compliance with scientific methods cannot be compromised.
