IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the arrival schedule of 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Indonesia became uncertain due to an embargo by several countries.
“The schedule for the shipment of 100 million doses of vaccine has become uncertain until now,” said Budi in a meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR) on Thursday, April 8, 2021.
Budi reiterated that the country was slated to receive 100 million doses via two schemes viz. multilateral cooperation with the COVAX global-vaccine alliance (GAVI) totaling 54 million doses and Bio Farma-AstraZeneca totaling 50 million doses.
The first delay was the procurement of vaccines via Covax due to an embargo by India which produces the vaccine for the COVAX facility. Because the supply from India was hampered, GAVI made a reallocation.
Indonesia had obtained 1 million doses, while it should be 11 million doses in March-April. The rest will be delayed to May 2021, Budi added. “They cannot confirm it also. So it remains uncertain.”
As for 50 million vaccines via bilateral cooperation, Budi went on, AstraZeneca Indonesia could only bring in 20 million doses this year, and the remaining 30 million vaccines are postponed to 2022.
Many European countries and several countries in Asia such as India, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, as well as several countries in South America such as Brazil, recorded the third spike of active Covid-19 cases.
As a result, countries that produce Covid-19 vaccines at these states prioritized the vaccines for domestic needs. This move has affected hundreds of countries in the world, including Indonesia.
Read: Covid-19 Vaccination Rollout Slows Down as Supply Drops: Health Ministry
FRISKI RIANA
