Bio Farma Has Secured the Availability of the Covid-19 Vaccine for Indonesia

(Bandung 14/7) Bio Farma received a working visit from the Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives People's Welfare Sector Muhaimin Iskandar (14/7). During this working visit, he was accompanied by several members of the DPR-RI, and the Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Ida Fauziah was also present. This Working Visit was welcomed by the President Director, Bio Farma, Honesti Basyir, and the Director of Operations at Bio Farma, Rahman Roestan.

In his speech, Muhaimin Iskandar said Bio Farma has a long history, and Bio Farma is the hope of all of us, in overcoming difficulties, especially during the pandemic through biotechnology.

“I and the leaders of the DPR will always support Bio Farma. We will continue to fulfill Bio Farma's need to become the "Sword of the Nation in the fight against the Covid19 virus. We encourage Bio Farma to form a consortium with similar companies at home and abroad, in order to be better able to accelerate the production of more vaccines," said Muhaimin.

He also added that during this pandemic, collaboration is needed, individually or jointly through synergy between the DPR and SOEs, especially Bio Farma and can be even more advanced in the future.

Meanwhile, Ida Fauziah said that the procurement of the Mutual Cooperation Vaccination (VGR) program for employment is very important, especially for those who work in essential and critical sectors. Currently, the labor and worker groups are a vulnerable group, especially in public services, especially in the critical and essential sectors. 

"To be able to escape from this pandemic period, we are faced with a choice, namely through strict Health Protocols, and accelerating the provision of vaccinations. We also give appreciation and support for the maximum contribution that has been made by Bio Farma in ensuring the availability of vaccine allocations and additional vaccine allocations for labor-intensive industries,” said Ida Fauziah.

During this visit, Bio Farma also received an award from the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration as a company that helps build herd immunity through the Covid-19 Vaccination Program for workers and their families. 

In an explanation from Honesti Basyir, he said that until now, Bio Farma has continued to make efforts to bring in the Covid-19 vaccine from various sources. To obtain this COVID-19 vaccine, Indonesia uses a bilateral approach as well as a multilateral approach.

This bilateral approach has been carried out by Bio Farma and has arrived at Bio Farma as many as 115.5 million bulk from Sinovac, while with Sinopharm producer for the purpose of Vaksinasi Gotong Royong (VGR), at least 3.7 million doses have arrived. As for the multilateral route, through the Covax Facility collaboration, at least 16.2 million have been received, bringing the total number of vaccines received by Indonesia to 137.6 million doses.

“The first vaccine was delivered in December 2020 in finished form, which is 3 million doses. And now, Bio Farma is able to produce its own vaccine from Sinovac. For the contract with Bio Farma, SInovac has agreed to send 140 million doses, and based on the direction from the Ministry of Health, there will be an option to add another 120 million doses,' Honesti said.

Bio Farma, which is also the Holding Holding Company for Pharmaceutical SOEs, is committed to handling Covid-19 through the provision of Covid-19 vaccines as well as medical therapy for Covid-19. In addition to vaccines and medical therapy, Bio Farma and the biotechnology startup Nusantics launched the latest innovation in the form of a diagnostic called Bio Saliva, which is a test tool to detect Covid-19 using the gargling method. This method is much more convenient for detecting the Covid-19 virus in the body of patients with or without symptoms. (ed)