By: Dodik Prasetyo) *
The national corona immunization will start soon, because the Sinovac vaccine has landed in Indonesia. However, the government plans to order vaccines from other sources, to meet their needs, because the population is more than 200 million. When everything is ready, the community will be relieved, because the pandemic will end quickly.
There is renewed hope for ending the COVID-19 pandemic when a vaccine is found. Experts have made this vaccine fast, because the corona is a SARS-2 virus and they are researching with the example of the SARS-1 virus. The United States has started national corona immunization first, and will be followed by other countries, including Indonesia.
The government decided to buy the Sinovac vaccine from China, and now it has arrived in Indonesia. Several preparations were made before the national immunization began, such as registration with BPOM, purchasing coolers to store vaccines, technical arrangements in the field, etc.
The Sinovac vaccine has indeed arrived and will be ordered again, but it is not enough to arrive, because Indonesia has more than 200 million people. The priority for giving this vaccine is medical personnel, because they are most at risk of contracting corona. People are asked to be patient to wait and don’t even go to other countries to be injected with vaccines.
Amalia Widyasanti, Deputy for Economic Affairs of Bappenas, stated that the total purchased vaccine is 275 million doses. First, there are 116 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine. In addition, there are 45 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech, as well as the 52 million doses of the vaccine from Novavax. There is also a vaccine from Astra Zenecavaksin as much as 50 million doses, and from Covax 12 million doses.
The increase in the number of vaccines that are coming will make the public relieved, because the President has really fulfilled his promise to bring in free vaccines for all Indonesian citizens. They don’t have to pay up to 600,000 rupiah in 2 injections, like in other countries. National corona immunization will be given in stages, and wait your turn patiently.
Suharso Monoarfa, Head of Bappenas, stated that the government is targeting the corona immunization to be carried out on 181 million people, to achieve herd immunity. Meanwhile, the remaining vaccines that have been ordered become reserves. So, until 2022 another vaccine will be ordered to achieve this target.
The Sinovac vaccine has an advantage because it is made from a corona virus that is no longer active and paralyzed, so that its effectiveness reaches 90%. It can also be injected into both toddlers and seniors, because they are at high risk of contracting corona. Moreover, the elderly have comorbids, aka congenital diseases, so they must be immunized.
Meanwhile, the vaccines made by Pfizer and other companies are mostly made of messenger RNA, and will be chopped up by natural enzymes when injected into the body. Storage of this vaccine also requires temperatures that are much cooler than the Sinova vaccine. So that it cannot be stored in an ordinary freezer, it must be placed in a special container made to order.
Therefore, it is very natural for the government to buy more Sinovac vaccines. Moreover, the shelf life can be up to 3 years, if put in a container with the right temperature. However, the government’s decision to increase the number of vaccines is not for comparison, but because of the very large population of Indonesia.
Vaccine orders from Sinovac, Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers demonstrate the government’s efforts to accelerate the completion of the pandemic. So that when everyone has finished being immunized, herd immunity will be formed, and we can be relieved to be free from corona. The situation will return to normal and the Indonesian economy will recover.
) * The author is a contributor to the Institute for Strategic Information Studies