China Sends Indonesia 1.2 Million Doses of Sinovac's COVID-19 Vaccine

On Sunday, Indonesia received 1.2 million doses of Sinovac's coronavirus vaccine from China. This is the first batch of the immunization drug aimed at lowering the severe COVID-19 spike in Southeast Asia.

President of Indonesia Joko Widodo announced the government expects the second batch of 1.8 million vaccines in January. Additionally, Sinovac will deliver bulk material for 45 million doses of the immunization, which will be processed by the local pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma.

Apart from the contract with Sinovac Biotech Ltd., the Indonesian government is expecting COVID-19 vaccines from three other drug suppliers. Among these is AstraZeneca Plc. whose trials are currently in their final stage.

Indonesia has registered a new record high in COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. The latest data shows that over half a million Indonesians have suffered the virus, while the deaths in the country have exceeded 17,000. 

In November, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated that the Indonesian government’s major goal is to immunize as many as 120 million country residents at a cost equivalent to 0.5% to 1% of gross domestic product through 2022.

Health care, police, military, and public staffers, who work on the front pandemic line, will be the first to be vaccinated by the end of the year. The next who will receive the immunization will be 246 million individuals between 18 and 59 years old.

The Sinovac vaccine doses delivered in Jakarta are about to be transported by refrigerated trucks to Bandung, which is three hours away from the capital.