YAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia will have the capacity to produce 250 million doses a year of a coronavirus vaccine until the end of 2020, ending human trials, a minister said on Tuesday, as the country seeks to end a wave of infections that have not shown symptoms of recoil.
Indonesia has shown 115,056 cases of COVID-19 and 5,388 deaths since its first infections in March. It has reported more than 1,000 new instances almost every day since early June.
State-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma will begin phase 3 human clinical trials this week with a vaccine produced through Sinovac from China. If successful, Bio Farma said it would produce the vaccine itself.
The global pandemic has triggered a rush to create a vaccine, with more than a hundred in progression and a dozen already tested in humans. However, there are considerations about the call and arrival of countries in a long-term coup d’éte.
Erick Thohir, Indonesia’s 10th state-owned enterprises minister, said Bio Farma will increase its capacity in the coming months and will be able to produce 250 million doses consistent with the year.
“Let’s trust the capability of our country. Don’t doubt Bio Farma which has been proven, either to produce vaccines that are produced with international partners or vaccines produced solely by (them),” Thohir said in a statement.
Indonesian trials will be conducted in West Java with about 1,600 volunteers, according to the West Java website.
Sinovac did not respond to a request for comment. He also works with Bangladesh and Brazil for clinical trials.
Bambang Heriyanto, corporate secretary at Bio Farma, told Reuters the targeted production capacity to 250 million doses was contingent on the vaccine passing the trial.
(Reporting through Stanley Widianto, Kate Lamb and Bernadette Christina; Edited through Martin Petty)