简体中文
The SinoVac vaccine is expected to be distributed publicly by February 2021. /CGTN
Herlina Agustin was hesitant when she was first offered the chance to be a volunteer for a COVID-19 vaccine. But it didn't take long for her to realize that the benefits of the trial would be much greater than her fears.
Now, it's been more than one month since Herlina received the vaccine and she says it was more than just a medical trial, it was a humanitarian act.
"My motivation is just being a human being. I want to be beneficial for others, and if it can be beneficial for the health, for this pandemic, then why not. I did for humanity," Herlina said.
Herlina volunteered as a dedication to all the frontliners who risk their lives across the nation. /CGTN
Herlina's participation could help shed a light on a disease that has crippled Indonesia for months.
The government is pinning its hopes on the SinoVac vaccine, which is a project between China and Indonesia. The vaccine is developed by China's SinoVac Biotech and it will be produced by Indonesia's state-owned pharmaceuticals, BioFarma.
Nearly 2,200 people volunteered to receive the vaccine. All of them will now be closely monitored, their physical health regularly checked and if this trial proves to be successful by the end of 2020, the government promised it will be ready to produce 250 million doses by 2021.
SinoVac already agreed to supply 40 million doses from November 2020 to March 2021. The cooperation is expected to be valid until the end of 2021.
Indonesia will get exclusive treatments where SinoVac has agreed to provide BioFarma priority access to purchase the vaccine in bulk once the analysis of the trials are released.
Neni Nurainy, the senior project manager of BioFarma, is confident that those trials will produce positive results.
"By January 2021, we hope to get the analysis from the phase 3 trials. This includes the safety of the vaccine, the immune response from antibodies, and the efficacy. Our hope is by February we can start to distribute the vaccine. The clinical trials will still go on by then because we will only have obtained the interim analysis," Neni said.
It's becoming a race against time as Indonesia continues to struggle with rising COVID-19 infections. This vaccine is the only glimmer of hope for the country amid the global pandemic.
