Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the Indonesian government has replaced imported COVID-19 vaccines with domestically made products that are relatively much safer from side effects.
This possibility responds to the side effects of blood clotting events attributed to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“What the government is giving now is all domestic production, whose technology is relatively much safer,” said Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, as reported by Antara.
The Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) Indonesia also stated the same thing, emphasizing that the AstraZeneca vaccine was not circulating in Indonesia and was not reused.
Minister of Health Budi said the COVID-19 vaccine is still needed in Indonesia, especially for comorbid community groups and those traveling abroad.
One of those who need this vaccine is the hajj group, which will soon be traveling to Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry of Health has replaced the procurement of imported COVID-19 vaccines with domestic production since the end of 2022, namely the IndoVac branded vaccine produced by state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma in Bandung, West Java.
In addition, Indonesia has also produced the InaVac vaccine from PT Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia and Airlangga University (Unair) in Gunung Sindur, Bogor Regency, West Java.
AstraZeneca admits its vaccine causes rare side effects
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AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that produces the COVID-19 vaccine under the Covishield brand, admits that its products can cause rare side effects. These include blood clots and low platelet counts.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that Covishield can cause life-threatening side effects.
As reported by The Independent, several studies during the pandemic showed that Covishield was 60 to 80 percent effective in protecting vaccine recipients against new coronavirus strains.
However, some studies have found that Covishield can cause a risk of blood clots that can be fatal.
