Indonesian President Joko Widodo received an injection of a vaccine made in China live on television on Wednesday, while health officials were preparing for a national launch.
Tests on humans in Indonesia found that the vaccine, CoronaVac, was safe and 65.3% effective. But scientists in Brazil said on Tuesday that it had a effectiveness rate of just over 50 percent – much lower than the 78 percent effectiveness rate announced last week.
Joko was the first in Indonesia to receive the inoculation, health officials said, because he wanted to assure the public that it was safe, effective and halal, which means it was passed under Islamic law.
Behind him, while he received the injection, there was a red plaque with white letters proclaiming that the vaccine was “safe and halal”.
“Covid’s vaccination is important to break the chain of transmission of this coronavirus and provide health protection for all of us, the people of Indonesia, and help accelerate the economic recovery process,” said Joko after receiving his injection.
Indonesia, which authorized the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine on Monday, had already ordered 125.5 million doses of the company and smaller quantities of several others. Indonesia, the fourth largest country in the world with 270 million inhabitants, hopes to obtain collective immunity by vaccinating two-thirds of the population in 15 months.
But there are still doubts surrounding the Sinovac vaccine, which China started administering last year, before human testing was completed.
The company has yet to publicly release data on its test results. And the vaccine’s effectiveness rate, measured in Brazil and Indonesia, is still well below the rates of more than 90% achieved by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that have been approved in the United States and other countries.
Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist at Griffith University in Australia, said CoronaVac’s relatively low effectiveness rate should prompt Indonesia to look for alternatives. He also questioned the transparency of the various trials and the data being released.
“At least Indonesia has a vaccine as a tool to protect its health workers and prevent staff shortages,” he said. “Of course, the government must do its best to obtain other vaccines.”
Indonesia plans to give the vaccine first to medical teams, police and soldiers. It also started a national promotion campaign to persuade the public to get the vaccine, which will be free.
Following Mr. Joko to be vaccinated in front of the cameras were the head of the army, the head of the national police and the newly appointed Minister of Health, along with other dignitaries and so-called influencers.
Indonesia reported almost 850,000 cases of coronavirus and nearly 25,000 deaths, the highest scores in Southeast Asia in both categories.