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YAKARTA: 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 tuesday (August 4), as the country seeks to curb a wave of infections it has shown without 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 cases almost every day since early June.
State-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma will begin phase 3 of 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 being tested on humans. However, there are considerations about calling for a long-term coup.
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 year-consistent doses until the end of the year.
“Let us accept as true with the functions of our country. Don’t doubt bio Farma that has been shown, whether it’s producing vaccines produced with foreign partners or vaccines produced only through (them),” Thohir said in a statement.
Indonesian trials will be conducted in West Java with the participation of some 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, general secretary of Bio Farma, told Reuters that the expected production capacity of 250 million doses depended on the good fortune of the vaccine.
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