IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – The Indonesian COVID-19 handling committee and economic recovery chief, Erick Thohir, said the production of the future novel coronavirus vaccine, which will be made available in subsidized and unsubsidized forms, will have equal priority.
“This does not mean that nonsubsidized [vaccines] will be made available first over the subsidized version. Don’t spin the facts. This is not the government’s attempt to make money [out of the pandemic],” said the SOEs Minister Erick Thohir in a virtual conference on Thursday, September 3.
He explained that the price of vaccines that will be sold to the public is not set yet considering it will be set by its producers. However, Erick hopes Indonesia will soon be able to produce its homegrown “Merah Putih vaccine.”
“Each country has its own interest to protect its people. We are yet able to produce one which is why we still depend on other countries,” said the minister.
Erick implied that paid-vaccines and free vaccines will share the same quality as both undergo the same stringent clinical trials. The difference in costs will heavily depend on the calculation of each vaccine producer.
The government is planning to make paid-vaccines available for the Indonesian public in an attempt to reduce the country’s burden as it would slash the government’s cost to provide the public with COVID-19 vaccines. One of the groups declaring their willingness to pay for the vaccines is entrepreneurs joined in The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).
Read: Erick Thohir Keen to Expedite Mass Covid-19 Vaccination in 2020’s End
CAESAR AKBAR
