The domestic-made COVID-19 vaccine is near completion and currently awaits emergency use authorization (EUA) before its public launch, Minister of State-owned Enterprises Erick Thohir stated.
“We are currently awaiting the emergency use authorization that will be granted in one or two weeks,” Thohir noted in an interview at the sidelines of the State-owned Enterprises Joint Recruitment inauguration at the Senayan Tennis Indoor Stadium here, Wednesday.
The minister remarked that President Joko Widodo had come up with the name for the vaccine while clarifying that it could not yet be revealed, as the authority had to manage the copyright and other relevant regulations.
The minister said that the discussion was still underway on whether to distribute the vaccine to residents without charge.
“The vaccine policy will be deliberated among government officials. The main policy is whether the vaccine will be free of charge or paid, but I cannot determine this yet. This vaccine is the vaccine that we can use for ourselves and will reduce our (vaccine) imports,” Thohir remarked.
Earlier, state-owned pharmacy company PT Bio Farma (Persero) informed that the third phase of the clinical test on the locally-made COVID-19 vaccine had been completed.
The domestic-made COVID-19 vaccine will enable Indonesia to have its own COVID-19 vaccine and is also intended to be the state-owned enterprises’ tribute to Indonesia’s independence anniversary.
“Hopefully, on August 17, 2022 (Independence Day), Indonesia would have a COVID-19 vaccine made in Indonesia, an offering for Indonesia to break the chain of COVID-19,” Bio Farma President Director Honesti Basyir remarked in Bandung on Monday (August 1).
The company has also completed the COVID-19 vaccine audit conducted by the Indonesian Ulema Council Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM MUI), a step necessary to make the vaccine halal-compliant.
PT Bio Farma has targeted some 22 million vaccine doses to be produced in the early production stage expected next December.
Source: Antara News