Indonesia is scheduled to receive another 10 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine in April 2021.
“This number adds to the availability of the Sinovac vaccine in the country, which amounts to 28 million doses,” said the spokesperson for the Covid-19 Vaccination of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Siti Nadia Tarmizi, Sunday (4/4/2021).
She explained that from a stock of 28 million, 5 million of which have been distributed to several provinces and districts/cities, and 11 million doses of vaccine will be distributed early this month.
“The rest is still in the process for vaccines to be 12 million doses. Also, in April we will receive another 10 million doses from Sinovac,” she said.
The Ministry of Health acknowledges India’s policy of embargoing vaccines affecting AstraZeneca vaccine shipments to Indonesia.
“So that delivery is delayed to May 2021,” he said.
Even though AstraZeneca’s vaccine delivery was interrupted in April, Siti Nadia Tarmizi confirmed that there was still time to pursue herd immunity through vaccination among 181,5 million Indonesians.
“This will be completed until the end of December 2021. Of course, there is still time for us to accelerate the vaccination coverage according to schedule,” she said.
Siti Nadia added that the Covid-19 vaccination program will continue during the fasting month of Ramadan 1442 Hijriyah / 2021.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) recently issued fatwa Number 13 of 2021 concerning the Covid-19 Vaccination Law while fasting. One of the points of the MUI Fatwa states that the government can vaccinate Covid-19 during Ramadan to prevent the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak by paying attention to the condition of Muslims who are fasting.
Indonesian Ulema Council appealed to Muslims to participate in the Covid-19 vaccination program implemented by the government to achieve group immunity.
photo by The Jakarta Post / Seto Wardhana
