JAKARTA: The Indonesian government said on Friday that it would allow private companies to run coronavirus vaccination programs for workers and families along with a nationwide campaign to spur efforts to achieve herd immunity.
The country aims to remove 181.5 million people out of a total of 270 million people by the end of the year.
“The companies will provide the free vaccines to workers,” Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a health ministry spokeswoman for the vaccine program, said at a news conference.
Tarmizi said the ministry’s revised regulation, which is a key reference for the vaccination program, was released Wednesday to include articles governing private sector involvement in the vaccination campaign .
“The number of vaccines dispensed in the private program will depend on the number requested by the companies, and the inoculations will be carried out at the private healthcare facilities or the companies’ own facilities, ”Tarmizi said.
In addition, the vaccines used in the program will be different from the CoronaVac, AstraZeneca, Novavax and Pfizer free vaccines that the government has released from mid – January.
While the initial population targets included health workers, the elderly, front-line public workers, teachers and lecturers, athletes, journalists and lawyers, the general population or the those of productive age receive their first vaccine injection in April.
The private scheme, proposed by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin), will require companies to purchase the vaccine from Bio Farma, a state-owned vaccine manufacturer designated as the sole importer for all injections which Indonesia buys.
Bio Farma spokesman Bambang Heriyanto said the company is in talks with Moderna and Sinopharm to get vaccines for the private scheme, known as “Gotong Royong,” Indonesia’s term for cooperation.
“As the name implies, this is a collaborative venture. The government will give a place to any members of the association who want to support the government in the vaccination program, ”said Arya Sinulingga, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of State Property Initiatives on Friday.
He said the private initiative will run at the same time as the government’s program and will not change the timetable or existing priority groups.
Kadin said about 7,000 companies had already registered for the vaccination campaign on Saturday.
“The commitment to take part in this program is very high as it is very expensive for companies to do a regular swab test. It is better for companies to allocate the cost of vaccinating their employees, ”Shinta Kamdani Widjaja, Kadin’s vice-chairman, said at a news conference earlier this week.
She dismissed concerns that the program would trade in vaccines, saying the government would keep a close eye on the program so they would not violate terms and conditions.
“There are also companies that are willing to vaccinate not only their employees, but also their families. It would be difficult for the economy to recover if we did not reach the herd protection target. The business community is ready to support the government in the vaccination and economic recovery campaign program, ”said Widjaja.
However, opponents of the scheme say the private vaccination campaign will not “allow queue jerseys that do not require the vaccine compared to the most vulnerable groups, and avoid the principle of equality for all citizens there. the vaccination program. ”
Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist, said in an online discussion: “There is also no guarantee that we will achieve herd protection by protecting 181.5 million people. This can be misleading and misleading.
“This also tends to force government, companies and the public to adhere to the health, testing, detection and treatment protocols,” Budiman said.
He said that gaining herd immunity was a long-term goal and that the vaccine campaign could not stand alone in fighting the pandemic without a holistic approach to health protection. people.
Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, agreed, saying the private vaccination program focused specifically on economic recovery targets rather than controlling the pandemic.
“It is clear from the outset that the government does not see the vaccine as one of the ways to treat the pandemic, but it has been more about economic recovery,” Riono said.