Indonesians Get More Vaccine Options in Inoculation Drive

A batch of 1.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca has arrived in Indonesia, giving the public more options in the country’s efforts to inoculate the population.

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A total of 1.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine for Indonesia arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten, Monday (08/03/2021). The vaccine from AstraZeneca is the result of a multilateral cooperation scheme or Covid-19 Vaccines Advance Market Commitment (Covax AMC).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – A batch of 1.1 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Monday (8/3/2021). This is the first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines out of a planned 11 million doses acquired through the COVID-19 Vaccines Advance Market Commitment (Covax AMC) multilateral cooperation scheme.

Covax AMC is an innovative financing instrument that gives 92 middle-income countries access to COVID-19 vaccines from donor financing.

"The multilateral effort is bearing fruit. […] Indonesia has received the first shipment of 1.13 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, weighing 4.1 tons," said Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi on Monday.

Also read: Fulfilling the Pledge to Execute Vaccination

This is the initial phase of the first batch of vaccine deliveries from the Covax AMC, which will see Indonesia will receive 11.7 million from early March to May.

The vaccine’s safe arrival, according to Retno, was realized thanks to the cooperation of various ministries and related institutions. The vaccine was also procured through cooperation with a number of international parties, including donor countries, the Coalition for Epidemic Readiness Innovations (CEPI), the Vaccines Alliance (GAVI), the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children\'s Fund.

Also read: Help the Elderly Access COVID-19 Vaccines

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

A teacher undergoes a health check before getting a Covid-19 vaccine shot during a vaccinations for high school teachers at SMAN 70 Jakarta on Wednesday. The event was attended by 600 teachers and education staff. The vaccination program has come to the second batch, targeting elderly people and those employed in the public sector, such as market vendors, educators (teachers, lecturers), religious leaders, lawmakers, government officials and state institutions.

A WHO representative for Indonesia, Paranietharan, said this was a historic event. The Covax AMC aims to provide 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines this year for many countries. The Foreign Minister is a cochair for the fair and equitable access to vaccines from the Covax AMC.

"Indonesia is one of the few developing countries that has started their vaccination program. It is important to ensure that vaccines are prioritized for those most in need and that no one is left behind,” said Paranietharan.

Indonesia is one of the few developing countries that has started their vaccination program.

Also read: Post-Vaccination Events

The government spokesperson for COVID-19 handling, Reisa Broto Asmoro, said Covax AMC is committed to providing vaccines from a number of producers to meet the needs of 20 percent of Indonesia\'s population or 54 million people.

Virus mutation

Separately, the director of prevention and control of direct communicable diseases of the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the Health Ministry’s research and development agency laboratory and 16 other laboratories had identified four new cases of the COVID-19 B117 mutation.

The first case was found in Palembang, South Sumatra, whose sample was taken on Jan. 5; the second case came from South Kalimantan and the sample was taken on Jan. 6, while the third came from North Sumatra.

Also read: Post-Vaccination Events

The fourth and fifth cases were Indonesian migrant workers from Saudi Arabia who live in Karawang, West Java, and the sixth case was also an Indonesian migrant worker from Saudi Arabia who hails from Balikpapan, North Kalimantan. Four of them have recovered so far.

Kompas/Priyombodo

A health worker prepares vaccines during the mass Covid-19 vaccination for public service officers, journalists and teachers at the city administration office in Tangerang, Banten, on Friday (26/2/2021).

The public has been advised not to worry but still be aware of this new variant of SARS-CoV-2 because it is far more contagious. The available vaccines are still considered to be effective in protecting against this new variant.

Two of the three new variants of SARS-CoV-2 are more contagious and can avoid antibodies that are formed from infections or drugs and vaccines. They were first detected in South Africa and Brazil by a research team at the University of Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, according to the March 4 edition of Nature Medicine.

Restrictions extended

Meanwhile, the enactment of micro-scale public activity restrictions (PPKM Mikro) was extended again for two weeks, from March 9 to 22. In that period, the restrictions will be extended to three other provinces outside Java and Bali, namely East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and North Sumatra.

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, who is also chairman of the committee for handling COVID-19 and the country’s national economic recovery, said three additional provinces would implement the PPKM Mikro because they had experienced a significant increase in COVID-19 cases. So, intervention is needed to control transmission, he added.

Also read: Anticipate Effects After Vaccination

Residents are also urged to reduce their movements and stay in their respective cities and villages. The government has prohibited state civil servants (ASN), Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel, police officers, as well as employees from state-owned and region-owned enterprises from traveling— especially out of town — during the Isra Mi\'raj (Ascension of Prophet Muhammad) holiday on March 11 and Nyepi (Day of Silence) on March 14. Private and corporate employees are also advised not to travel.

The COVID-19 task force\'s reports that an average of 37,837 patients are tested daily. On Monday, it detected 6,894 new cases of COVID-19 and 281 deaths.

(TAN/DEA/LAS/AIK)

This article was translated by Kurniawan H. Siswoko.