A medical worker shows a tube of Sinovac vaccine at a hospital in Bandar Lampung, Lampung Province, on Jan. 29, 2021. (Antara Photo/Ardiansyah)
MARCH 03, 2021
Jakarta. State-run pharmaceutical company Bio Farma has been producing Covid-19 vaccine under license from China’s Sinovac Biotech since early this year, aiming for 154 million doses before the end of the year.
As of Tuesday, Bio Farma has received vaccine bulk equivalent to 37.5 million doses from Sinovac, the Indonesian company said on Twitter.
Indonesia rolled out Bio Farma-made vaccine when the second stage of mass vaccination began on Feb. 17, targeting 38 million elderly citizens and public sector workers.
Bio Farma said deliveries of vaccine bulk from Sinovac will continue until July.
Since mass vaccination began on Jan. 13 until Wednesday, the country has administered 3.1 million doses with around 2 million recipients. Indonesia has been averaging more than 63,000 doses since the first dose was administered.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said he expected the vaccination drive will add the pace by July, when 1 million people per day can receive the shots.
When supplies from Bio Farma are ready, the government will begin increasing the number of doses to 500,000 per day later this month, Budi said in Jakarta.
“We expect to administer 500,000 doses per day in March and April and hopefully the number can grow to 1 million doses per day starting July 1,” Budi said.
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