Illustration: COVID-19 vaccine. (Image via The Jakarta Post)

How much is the Merah Putih COVID-19 vaccine?

Until now, Indonesia's Health Ministry has not determined the candidate for its own vaccine program, "Red and White" or "Merah Putih". Moreover, the Health Ministry also has not determined whether the Red and White vaccine against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will be free of charge from the Indonesian Government or paid through independent vaccination.

Speaking on Monday, the spokesperson of the COVID-19 vaccination from the Health Ministry, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated that further discussion and the determination of the matter may be announced in 2022 or after the clinical trial and emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Red and White vaccine has been finished. Nadia asserted that the Health Ministry will keep monitoring the development of the Indonesian-owned vaccine.

Currently, there are six institutions that will join hands to develop the Red and White vaccines in separate platforms. These vaccines are:

1. Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology

2. Indonesian Institute of Sciences

3. University of Indonesia

4. Bandung Institute of Technology

5. Airlangga University

6. Gadjah Mada University

While the Health Ministry gives its utmost support for the Red and White vaccine, Nadia explained that the production of the COVID-19 vaccine will still rely on Indonesian-owned pharmaceutical, Bio Farma.

The spokesperson of the COVID-19 vaccination from Bio Farma, Bambang Heriyanto, stated that until now, the Indonesian Government has not given any certainty on Red and White vaccines. Reiterating Nadia's statement, there are clinical trials required to be done to ensure the Red and White vaccine will be effective for Indonesia.

The Indonesian Government already set seven vaccine brands for Indonesia. According to the Ministerial Decree Number HK.01.07/MENKES/12758/2020 on the Determination of Types of Vaccines for the Implementation of COVID-19 Vaccination, these vaccines are:

1. Bio Farma

2. AstraZeneca-Oxford

3. Sinopharm

4. Moderna

5. Novovax

6. Pfizer-BioNTech

7. Sinovac

From these seven vaccines, five will be used for the free, national vaccination program, and two vaccines (Sinopharm and Moderna) will be used for the paid "Mutual Cooperation" or "Gotong Royong" vaccination program.

Even though the Red and White vaccine is not considered a usable vaccine in Indonesia, the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), already ordered for the acceleration of the Red and White vaccine's production. Even more, Jokowi targets the Red and White vaccines to be mass-produced by the end of 2021. Currently, the Red and White vaccine is still in the first phase, which is research and development to yield vaccine seed.

Source: https://bit.ly/3bRLwx2