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Judul : Efficacy and safety first: Experts urge government not to put
vaccines on pedestal

Nama Media : thejakartapost.com
Tanggal : 3 September 2020

Halaman/URL : https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/09/03/efficacy-and-
safety-first-experts-urge-government-not-to-put-vaccines-on-
pedestal.html

Tipe Media : Online

In a country battered by the COVID-19
pandemic, both in terms of economics and
public health, the government appears to
be pinning its hopes on vaccine
development, as new cases and deaths
continue to soar in what experts have
deemed as a never-ending first wave.

In a statement on Wednesday to express
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's condolences on the deaths of 100 doctors from
COVID-19, presidential spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman ended it by pointing to the
government strategy of securing potential vaccines.

That includes, Fadjroel said, "looking for vaccines produced by any parties in the
world; research and production collaboration between [state company] Biofarma,
universities and local and foreign institutions; and the Merah-Putih vaccine research
by Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology."

The government says it has so far secured 30 million doses of potential COVID-19
vaccines by the end of this year, in addition to between 290 million and 340 million
doses by next year, following state-owned companies’ agreements with China’s
Sinovac Biotech, and the United Arab Emirates' Group 42 (G42) Healthcare.
As a note, the vaccines developed today for COVID-19 [is for an immunity that lasts]
six months to two years. It's not a vaccine shot [for] a lifetime [protection]," said
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir in a meeting last week with the
House of Representatives.

Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto told the meeting that this meant the vaccine
could possibly have to be injected once every six months, or one, or two years. But
experts have expressed caution about this estimate, wondering where it came from
given that the two potential vaccines are still in phase III clinical human trials, which
would determine the vaccines' efficacy and safety.

Indonesia is rolling out the trials for Sinovac's CoronaVac on 1,620 people along with
several other countries, while G42 is carrying out trials in its home country on 45,000
participants of 85 ethnicities. However, determining how long immunity resulting from