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Judul : Avoiding vaccine wastage
Nama Media : thejakartapost.com
Tanggal : 7 Maret 2022
Halaman/URL : https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2022/03/06/avoiding-vaccine-
wastage.html
Tipe Media : Media Online

Circulating reports about 18 million doses of COVID-
19 vaccine that may have expired at the end of
February 2022 have triggered safety concerns, hence
damaging public trust in the vaccination drive. For one,
the Health Ministry has insisted that the actual number
of expired vaccines should be substantially lower.
Furthermore, experts maintain that expired vaccines
might not harm recipients’ health. Failure to quickly
address the issue, however, will adversely affect the
government’s vaccine rollout, which has not achieved
its target yet. The ministry’s COVID-19 vaccination
spokeswoman, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the
government had been aware of the potential for 18
million doses of coronavirus vaccine to expire by the
end of February.

That was why the government had accelerated the vaccination efforts, involving the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and National Police, to prevent the wastage from occurring, Siti said. Moreover,
many regencies and cities have not yet updated data on their close-to-expiry vaccines. Most
recently, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has made some assessments to
extend the expiry date of COVID-19 vaccines, especially AstraZeneca. To avoid the wastage,
the Health Ministry released a circular dated Jan. 12 and signed by Disease Control and
Prevention Director General Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, asking local administrations to prioritize
the use of close-to-expire vaccines. Indonesia has so far secured 460 million doses of COVID-
19 vaccine of various brands, 300 million doses of which have been distributed nationwide. On
top of that, the government has received 30 million doses of vaccine in the form of aid from
developed countries. Expired vaccines, regardless of the number, underpin the problem of
distribution.

Many regions, especially in the eastern parts of the country, remain far from achieving the
national target. The government aims to fully vaccinate 181.5 million citizens, or 70 percent of
the total population, by March 2022. Greater involvement of religious leaders and community
figures, such as village, neighborhood unit (RT) and community unit (RW) heads, was
imperative in the government’s efforts to expand vaccination coverage, Siti said. Door-to-door
vaccination campaigns also needed to be continued to accelerate its bid toward achieving the
national COVID-19 primary vaccination target, she added. Despite the efforts to address
wastage, the government needs to make a firm decision on what to do with the expired COVID-
19 vaccine doses. Expired vaccines, though not dangerous, will lose efficacy in fighting the
coronavirus. As each vaccine clearly stipulates its expiry date, tough sanctions should spare