JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia expects to receive 20.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna Inc and China’s Sinopharm from the second quarter for use in a private vaccination scheme, said the head of a state-owned pharmaceutical company on Monday.
Indonesia authorized one of the first private vaccination programs in the world last month to run in parallel with its national initiative, allowing companies to buy vaccines purchased by the state for their employees in the largest country in Southeast Asia.
While the plan is expected to speed up the rate of vaccination in the fourth most populous country in the world, some health experts have warned that this could worsen inequality.
Honesti Basyir, CEO of Bio Farma, said in a parliamentary hearing on Monday that he ordered 15 million doses from China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and 5.2 million doses from Moderna.
The Sinopharm vaccine could arrive at the end of the second quarter and Moderna in the third quarter, he said.
Indonesia plans to inoculate 181.5 million people in one year in an effort to achieve collective immunity in a vaccination campaign that began in January.
The country has suffered one of the worst coronavirus epidemics in Asia, with more than 1.4 million cases and more than 38,000 deaths so far.
The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry pressured the government to authorize the private vaccination campaign.
More than 11,500 companies signed up for the plan, which would see about 7.4 million people vaccinated, Rosan P. Roeslani, head of the business group, said at the same hearing on Monday.
The program would allow employees of participating companies, in addition to their families, to receive free vaccines at private health centers with vaccines distributed by Bio Farma.
Indonesia’s food and drug agency is currently reviewing the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use approval, its chief, Penny K. Lukito, said at the hearing.
The agency made no mention of the approval status of the Moderna vaccine.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Miyoung Kim, Martin Petty)