A medical employee shows a tube of Sinovac vaccine at a medical facility in Bandar Lampung, Lampung Province, on Jan. 29,2021 (Antara Photo/Ardiansyah)
BY: MARIA FATIMA BONA
DECEMBER 05, 2021
Jakarta. Indonesians had a doubtful mindset toward China’s Sinovac vaccine even when it was their sole option in the start, but the demand for it has been growing rapidly in recent months when options from more famous western pharmacists are available.
The need is so huge it puts a brake on the government’s nationwide vaccination drive versus Covid-19, a Health Ministry spokeswoman said recently.
The rate of shot has been decreasing in the last two weeks because numerous districts and provinces declined to use vaccines aside from Sinovac.
” Numerous regional governments prefer to wait on shipments of Sinovac vaccine,” Siti Nadia Tarmizi said.
Issues occur because in the 2nd half of the year the government began to present other brands to diversify sources and guarantee sufficient supplies for 208 million individuals of the target population.
She couldn’t discuss precisely why people unexpectedly end up being so fussy about which vaccine they pick but admitted that there were complaints about adverse impacts from other brand names.
The federal government will continue diversifying products and lowering Sinovac dosages regardless of the present public preference, she stated.
” According to the existing plan and considering the accessibility of products at the producer side, our current stockpiles are moving far from Sinovac. We will not cancel the procurement of other vaccine brand names,” Siti said.
” Our roadmap says that in the 2nd half of the year a larger quantity of materials ought to comprise AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Novovak.”
She said the government is appealing for local authorities and unvaccinated individuals to receive whichever brand name is offered, stressing that “the best vaccine is the one offered for grab”.
” Supplies are minimal and we even can not spare for a new group the target population, particularly children aged 6 or above. Individuals ought to not delay getting the shot due to the fact that of brand name choices,” Siti stated.
The Sinovac vaccine, known as CoronaVac, is undoubtedly the dominant brand being utilized since the country began the vaccination drive on January 13.
Of 235.6 million doses administered between January and October, 186 million are Sinovac, according to Health Ministry information. The figures include 121 million Sinovac doses produced locally by state-run pharmaceutical business Bio Farma under license from the Chinese business.
More than 142 million Indonesians have received at least one dosage of the Covid-19 vaccine as of Saturday, with 98 million already totally vaccinated.
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