President Joko Widodo has said that he is impressed by the pharmaceutical industry, which has pursued the development of a COVID-19 vaccine using an mRNA (messenger RNA) platform—all without talking much about it.
“What I like is that (they) worked quietly. I myself didn’t know it; it just finished all of sudden. This is what I like. Not those who only talk, but when I wait for the result, it never comes around. (No talk, but action), it is what I like,” the President said at Pulogadung industrial area on Friday.
Widodo made the remark during the inauguration of PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia, a company that has developed the COVID-19 vaccine using an mRNA platform under the AWcorna trademark and through technology transfer and joint research with Abogen-Yuxi Walvax, China.
He urged the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and the Health Minister to pay attention to and support industries, such as PT Etana, so that they can develop and expand their portfolio to other types of products aimed at animals and plants in order to establish independence and self-sufficiency.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was panic among government officials because countries all over the world were fighting over vaccines, Widodo said.
He recalled that another item that was sought after at that time was personal protective equipment. It was such a chaotic time that even Indonesia, which produced them, had to fight over them, he recalled.
However, more than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, 440 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to citizens, and this has made Indonesia one of the best in the world in handling the pandemic.
“The second is related to health. I am also surprised that our people check (health) abroad (spending) a bit more than 6 billion US dollars a year, almost Rp100 trillion, to go to Singapore, Malaysia, to Japan,” he said.
Due to this inclination, almost Rp100 trillion of Indonesia’s foreign exchange was pooled abroad because the citizens were uncertain about medical services at hospitals, health workers, and medical devices in their own country, President Widodo added.
“In fact, our human resources are also not inferior in the medical aspect. Therefore, I really welcome what PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia has done in producing vaccines on the mRNA platform, and this is the first in Southeast Asia,” he said.
The President emphasized that he did not want the pandemic to happen again in Indonesia, but if it does, then the nation would be ready to face it.
“At least we are a bit relieved because Mr. Nathan (Nathan Tirtana, president director of PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia) said earlier that in two months, the new vaccine can be in clinical trials (stage), that’s rather fast,” Widodo added.
The mRNA vaccine is a vaccine based on new technology, which has not been built using weakened or killed viruses or germs, but a component of genetic material that is engineered to resemble a particular germ or virus so that the vaccine can trigger an immune reaction, just like what ordinary vaccines do.
Although mRNA vaccines do not cause infection because they do not contain viruses or bacteria and are safe to give to the elderly, they must be stored at very cold temperatures, i.e., -70 degrees Celsius or lower, thus requiring special freezers. This is an issue for developing countries, including Indonesia, which do not have such equipment in all medical facilities.
The National Agency of Food and Drug Control (BPOM) granted an emergency-use permit (EUA) for AWcorna vaccine on September 30, 2022, for use as an alternative vaccine in the COVID-19 Vaccination program for adults aged 18 years and older.
Unlike similar vaccines, AWCorna is said to be able to be stored at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, thus it can be kept in standard freezers available in almost all regions.
Source: Antara News