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Gotong Royong’s plan for corporate workers will most likely lead to a strong belief among the public that the wealthy have preference over coveted vaccines.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted social inequalities around the world, adding the administration of vaccines. Indonesia, however, stands out for its vaccination policy that intentionally – and pleases – the country’s wealthiest groups. A new decree from the Ministry of Health provides supplies for two separate but simultaneous vaccination programs, one for corporate workers and the other for the rest of the population.
As a country with a large population (more than 280 million people), Indonesia has a formidable vaccine production capacity. It also has a strong capacity to conduct clinical trials of new vaccines. At the same time, its relations with China are becoming ever closer. For those reasons, Indonesia has secured a major source of raw fabrics for China’s Sinovac Coronavac vaccine. State-owned vaccine manufacturer PT Bio Farma has a contract to “finish and fill” vaccines from ingredients provided through Sinovac. So far, Bio Farma has secured 40 million doses of the two-dose vaccine and is expected to procure 140 million by July. With materials pledged through other manufacturers, including AstraZeneca and Novavax, Indonesia aims to vaccinate 181 million citizens by the end of the year. . Some, however, need to pass faster.
In February, a forum of 100 CEOs met with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and proposed a “vaccine self-sufficiency” initiative, dubbed in Indonesia Vaksinasi Mandiri. The CEOs, under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce (Kadin), presented to take charge of the vaccination of the employees of their companies, as well as their dependents, in exchange for the right to buy and import vaccines themselves. Unexpectedly, Jokowi approved the request, and by the end of the month, the Minister of Health had issued an executive order establishing a regulatory framework for the agreement. Kadin has registered the participation of more than 8,300 corporations and aims to procure 40 million doses for 20 million recipients.
Meanwhile, the Kadin program has replaced its call to Vaksinasi Gotong Royong. The new term refers to the classical Javanese tradition (gotong royong) of enduring poverty by pooling resources for percentages of hardship. Ironically, this is the exact opposite of such a pattern. . This will allow the wealthiest to protect themselves first, leaving the less fortunate members of the community.
Kadin members say faster vaccination of the country’s formal sector will lead to a faster economic recovery. In fact, defeating the pandemic itself is the only way to achieve a safe recovery, and that requires focusing on those who are most vulnerable and most exposed to transmission. In Indonesia, corporate painters are in a particularly better position than the general population, with greater physical fitness and much greater tactics to protect themselves through distancing and other precautions. Low-income Indonesians live in overcrowded housing and work in riskier jobs.
Kadin officials also say the organization’s willingness to pay for its own members’ vaccinations will ease the government’s burden, freeing up resources for the national immunization program. However, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati explicitly stated in a speech to foreign correspondents in February that “Funding is not the main factor in vaccination,” rather the safety of the source is the main challenge, largely followed by difficulties in overcoming logistical hurdles in a growing tropical and underdeveloped archipelago. Indonesia has benefited from generous budgets from foreign donor organizations and bilateral partners. , mobilizing gigantic budget and capital markets in an environment of low interest rates. Indonesia’s government debt is well below 40%, a low figure by emerging market standards.
For individual corporations operating in Indonesia, enrolling in the Kadin program is beneficial, as it can indeed allow for faster vaccination of workers and their dependents, especially if thousands of other corporations are involved. But for the country as a whole, it might have been imaginable. achieve national policy more quickly by focusing on a unified national agenda.
If Kadin members really wanted to boost Indonesia’s recovery, they could take the example of several corporations in their own sector that took the initiative to help the government with logistics. Ice cream manufacturer Campina, for example, is making its nationwide network of cold garage sets available to buy its Coronavac stocks; The same goes for private healthcare distributor Unilever and others. Ride-hailing service Grab has opened its facility in Bali to become Southeast Asia’s first drive-thru vaccination site.
Rather than easing the burden on the government, the Kadin program risks worsening the situation. The CEO Forum’s proposal has already forced overburdened policymakers to devote valuable time and resources to the complexities of making the plans a two-track program, rather than focusing exclusively on barriers to national vaccination. The new decree from the Minister of Health shows some of the complexities involved. Kadin vaccines will have to obtain an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from Indonesia’s Food and Drug Surveillance Agency (BPOM), and those vaccines will have to be different from those used in the national program. And Kadin will have to comply with the ministry’s rules for administering vaccines and use only personal sector clinics that do not participate in the national program.
Kadin purports to ease government burdens, but in reality the Chamber of Business’s wishes place significant strains on limited public resources. The Minister of Health’s decree assigns the task of distributing Kadin vaccines to PT Bio Farma, the same company guilty of processing valuable Coronavac materials and meeting the needs of the national vaccination program. Taking on the task of feeding Kadin may already be a costly distraction for Bio Farma. The decree also makes the Ministry of Health (a company struggling greatly to respond to the pandemic) responsible for certifying personal clinics that will administer Gotong Royong vaccines to those registered in Kadin. The ministry will also have to manage a national selection and monitoring formula that takes into account vaccination knowledge not only for its own program, but also for Kadin’s. And the government is also actively contributing to Kadin’s supply: Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Lieutenant General (retd) Luhut Panjaitan visited China to implore Sinopharm to prioritize its vaccine allocations to Indonesian companies. This use of diplomatic resources with China may have been leveraged further.
At the same time, the ministerial decree imposes virtually no prudential promises on the Kadin program, other than stating that the chamber will have to vaccinate beneficiaries free of charge. Neither the Minister of Health nor other government officials have established mechanisms to monitor the handling of Kadin vaccines, despite the obvious dangers of abuse and misconduct.
For Jokowi, the stakes are high. Most likely, Gotong Royong’s plan aims to create a strong public sentiment that the wealthy have preferential access to coveted vaccines. This exacerbates the sentiment surrounding social inequality (in times of crisis, when misery is already widespread) and quite unnecessarily. A national program that treats vaccination in times of health crisis as a public good would avoid confusion and inefficiency and likely allow for a faster recovery. Although Kadin has to pay for imported vaccines himself, the chamber of commerce is already receiving plentiful aid from the Ministry of Health, the state-owned company Bio Farma and ministers such as Panjaitan. This will inevitably feed the public impression that the rich receive a preferential remedy that is denied to the poor. Perceived injustice may well ruin Jokowi’s life. long-term political legacy.
More importantly, Kadin’s hint of his interests in national health policy poses dangers to the country as a whole. In particular, if revelations emerge that Kadin is mishandling Vaksinasi Gotong Royong, the resulting opprobrium could damage not only the business chamber, but also the Ministry of Health, the Jokowi administration, and the president himself. As is the case in many countries, persuading the majority of the public to participate in vaccination is a challenge; A scandal that exacerbates cynicism and undermines confidence in vaccination poses a risk to Indonesia’s overall recovery.
Kevin O’Rourke is editor and producer of the Reformasi Weekly Service report that analyzes politics and policymaking in Indonesia. He is also the author of the e-book “Reformasi: The Struggle for Power in Post-Soeharto Indonesia” (Allen
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted social inequalities around the world, adding the administration of vaccines. Indonesia, however, stands out for its vaccination policy that intentionally – and pleases – the country’s wealthiest groups. A new decree from the Ministry of Health provides supplies for two separate but simultaneous vaccination programs, one for corporate workers and the other for the rest of the population.
As a country with a large national population (more than 280 million), Indonesia has its formidable vaccine production capacity. It also has a strong capacity to conduct clinical trials of new vaccines. At the same time, its relations with China are becoming ever closer. For those reasons, Indonesia has secured a major source of raw fabrics for China’s Sinovac Coronavac vaccine. State-owned vaccine manufacturer PT Bio Farma has a contract to “finish and fill” vaccines from ingredients provided through Sinovac. So far, Bio Farma has secured 40 million doses of the two-dose vaccine and is expected to procure 140 million by July. With materials pledged through other manufacturers, including AstraZeneca and Novavax, Indonesia aims to vaccinate 181 million citizens by the end of the year. . Some, however, need to pass faster.
In February, a forum of 100 CEOs met with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and proposed a “vaccine self-sufficiency” initiative, dubbed in Indonesia Vaksinasi Mandiri. The CEOs, under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce (Kadin), presented to take charge of the vaccination of the employees of their companies, as well as their dependents, in exchange for the right to buy and import vaccines themselves. Unexpectedly, Jokowi approved the request, and by the end of the month, the Minister of Health had issued an executive order establishing a regulatory framework for the agreement. Kadin has registered the participation of more than 8,300 corporations and aims to procure 40 million doses for 20 million recipients.
Meanwhile, the Kadin program has replaced its call to Vaksinasi Gotong Royong. The new term refers to the classical Javanese tradition (gotong royong) of enduring poverty by pooling resources for percentages of hardship. Ironically, this is the exact opposite of such a pattern. This will allow the wealthiest to protect themselves first, leaving the less fortunate members of the community.
Kadin members say faster vaccination of the country’s formal sector will lead to a faster economic recovery. In fact, defeating the pandemic itself is the only way to achieve a safe recovery, and that requires focusing on those who are most vulnerable and most exposed to transmission. In Indonesia, corporate painters are in a particularly better position than the general population, with greater physical fitness and much greater tactics to protect themselves through distancing and other precautions. Low-income Indonesians live in cramped housing and work in riskier jobs.
Kadin officials also say the organization’s willingness to pay for its own members’ vaccinations will ease the government’s burden, freeing up resources for the national immunization program. However, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati explicitly stated in a speech to foreign correspondents in February that “Funding is not the main factor in vaccination,” rather the safety of the source is the main challenge, largely followed by difficulties in overcoming logistical hurdles in a growing tropical and underdeveloped archipelago. Indonesia has benefited from generous budgets from foreign donor organizations and bilateral partners. , mobilizing gigantic budget and capital markets in an environment of low interest rates. Indonesia’s government debt is well below 40%, a low figure by emerging market standards.
For individual corporations operating in Indonesia, enrolling in the Kadin program is beneficial as it may actually allow for faster vaccination of workers and their dependents, especially if thousands of other corporations participate. But for the country as a whole, it might have been imaginable. achieve a national policy more quickly by focusing on a unified national programme.
If Kadin members were really interested in speeding up Indonesia’s recovery, perhaps they would inform you based on the example of several corporations in their own sector that are taking the lead in helping the government with logistics. Ice cream manufacturer Campina, for example, makes its nationwide network of cold garage sets available for purchase of its Coronavac stock; The same goes for private care distributor Unilever and others. Ride-sharing service Grab has opened its Bali facility to Southeast Asia’s first drive-thru vaccination site.
Rather than easing the burden on the government, the Kadin program risks worsening the situation. The CEO Forum’s proposal has already forced overburdened policymakers to devote valuable time and resources to the complexities of making the plans a two-track program, rather than focusing exclusively on barriers to national vaccination. The new decree from the Minister of Health shows some of the complexities involved. Kadin vaccines will have to obtain an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from Indonesia’s Food and Drug Surveillance Agency (BPOM), and those vaccines will have to be different from those used in the national program. And Kadin will have to comply with the ministry’s rules for administering vaccines and use only personal sector clinics that do not participate in the national program.
Kadin purports to ease government burdens, but in reality the Chamber of Business’s wishes place significant strains on limited public resources. The Minister of Health’s decree assigns the task of distributing Kadin vaccines to PT Bio Farma, the same company guilty of processing valuable Coronavac materials and meeting the needs of the national vaccination program. Taking on the task of feeding Kadin may already be a costly distraction for Bio Farma. The decree also makes the Ministry of Health (a company struggling greatly to respond to the pandemic) responsible for certifying personal clinics that will administer Gotong Royong vaccines to those registered in Kadin. The ministry will also have to manage a national selection and monitoring formula that takes into account vaccination knowledge not only for its own program, but also for Kadin’s. And the government is also actively contributing to Kadin’s supply: Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Lieutenant General (retd) Luhut Panjaitan visited China to implore Sinopharm to prioritize its vaccine allocations to Indonesian companies. This use of diplomatic resources with China may have been leveraged further.
At the same time, the ministerial decree imposes virtually no prudential promises on the Kadin program, other than stating that the chamber will have to vaccinate beneficiaries free of charge. Neither the Minister of Health nor other government officials have established mechanisms to monitor the handling of Kadin vaccines, despite the obvious dangers of abuse and misconduct.
For Jokowi, the stakes are high. Most likely, Gotong Royong’s plan aims to create a strong public sentiment that the wealthy have preferential access to coveted vaccines. This exacerbates the sentiment surrounding social inequality (in times of crisis, when misery is already widespread) and quite unnecessarily. A national program that treats vaccination in times of health crisis as a public good would avoid confusion and inefficiency and likely allow for a faster recovery. Although Kadin has to pay for imported vaccines himself, the chamber of commerce is already receiving plentiful aid from the Ministry of Health, the state-owned company Bio Farma and ministers such as Panjaitan. This will inevitably feed the public impression that the rich receive a preferential remedy that is denied to the poor. Perceived injustice may well ruin Jokowi’s life. long-term political legacy.
More importantly, Kadin’s hint of his interests in national health policy poses dangers to the country as a whole. In particular, if revelations emerge that Kadin is mishandling Vaksinasi Gotong Royong, the resulting opprobrium could damage not only the business chamber, but also the Ministry of Health, the Jokowi administration, and the president himself. As is the case in many countries, persuading the majority of the public to participate in vaccination is a challenge; A scandal that exacerbates cynicism and undermines confidence in vaccination poses a risk to Indonesia’s overall recovery.
Kevin O’Rourke is editor and producer of the Reformasi Weekly Service report that analyzes politics and policymaking in Indonesia. He is also the author of the e-book “Reformasi: The Struggle for Power in Post-Soeharto Indonesia” (Allen
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted social inequalities around the world, adding to the management of vaccines. Indonesia, however, stands out for a vaccination policy that intentionally – and pleases – the country’s wealthiest groups. A new decree from the Ministry of Health provides for two separate but simultaneous vaccination programs, one for company workers and the other for the rest of the population.
As a country with a large national population (more than 280 million), Indonesia has its formidable vaccine production capacity. It also has a strong capacity to conduct clinical trials of new vaccines. At the same time, its relations with China are becoming ever closer. For those reasons, Indonesia has secured a major source of raw fabrics for China’s Sinovac Coronavac vaccine. State-owned vaccine manufacturer PT Bio Farma has a contract to “finish and fill” vaccines from ingredients provided through Sinovac. So far, Bio Farma has secured 40 million doses of the two-dose vaccine and is expected to procure 140 million by July. With materials pledged through other manufacturers, including AstraZeneca and Novavax, Indonesia aims to vaccinate 181 million citizens by the end of the year. . Some, however, need to pass faster.