TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Minister of Research and Technology Bambang Brodjonegoro said Indonesia continues to develop the Covid-19 vaccine in the country, namely the Red and White Vaccine. According to Bambang, the government is targeting the vaccine to be mass produced in the third quarter of 2021 to meet the needs of 270 million Indonesians.
“Next year it will be submitted to PT Bio Farma (Persero) for use in phase 1 clinical trials. Phase 1 clinical trials will be conducted in the first quarter of 2021, we hope that in the third quarter mass production will begin,” Bambang said in Live Instagram with Tempo.co, Monday 12 October 2020.
Even though it has imported vaccines from abroad, Indonesia, said Bambang, still needs independence. The reason is that the vaccine will be used continuously for a long time.
In addition, domestic original vaccines are designed according to the conditions of the Indonesian population. Collected TimeHere are some facts about the development of the Red-White vaccine.
1. There are already six candidates for the Red and White Vaccine
Bambang said that currently there are six vaccine candidates that are currently being tested by a number of institutions and universities. The first candidate is tested by the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology. Furthermore, the second candidate was tested by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the third by the Bandung Institute of Technology, fourth by Airlangga University, fifth by the University of Indonesia, and sixth by Gadjah Mada University.
Like other vaccines, the Red and White vaccine will go through three stages of testing. The first clinical trial was conducted to determine the side effects of using anti-virus, the second clinical trial was to determine the safety of the body, and the third clinical trial was the finalization stage.
2. Vaccines are needed more than once
Bambang said injection or immunization the Covid-19 vaccine will be needed more than once. “Each person needs more than once vaccine after 1-2 years (immunization),” he said.
Therefore, he also said that after passing the test, the production of the Covid-19 vaccine would not only be focused on PT Bio Farma as a state-owned company. This is because Bio Farma has limited production capacity, which is around 250 million doses per year. Meanwhile, Indonesia needs at least 540 million doses of vaccine for around 270 million people.
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