(COVID-19 vaccine) Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesia will provide free coronavirus vaccines to its citizens with the world’s fourth most populous nation starts its inoculation program. To reassure people on safety, President Jokowi said he will take the primary shot.
Shipment of vaccine
The sprawling, developing country took its first shipment of vaccines. A total of 1.2 million doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech in early December. However, it is still awaiting emergency use authorization from its food and drug agency.
Another 1.8 million doses are going to arrive in January. The government previously saying that healthcare workers in Java and Bali would be prioritized.
“After receiving many people’s suggestions and after recalculating state financial calculations. I can say that COVID-19 vaccine for citizens is free,” the president in a video statement from the state palace in Jakarta.
The decision comes because the country of 270 million faces an escalating coronavirus outbreak. Adding after social media campaigns urging authorities to supply vaccines free of charge.
The president said he had instructed the government minister to reallocate spending to fund the program.
Amid concerns over vaccine safety and whether shots are halal, a problem for several within the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, the president says he will be the primary recipient.
“This to produce assurance and trust to folks that the vaccine is safe,” he said.
He didn’t specify which vaccine he would receive. However, 1,620 volunteers are conducting a phase III clinical trial of Sinovac’s CoronaVac within the Indonesian city of Bandung in West Java. The results are yet to be released.
Indonesia is one of the worst countries the pandemic has impacted with more than 600,000 cases and close to 20,000 deaths. Thus, it is looking to secure 246.6 million vaccine doses. They have also been in negotiations with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and global vaccine program COVAX.
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