Who Gets The Vaccine ?
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will receive the first dose of corona-virus vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech on Jan. 13, an aide said on Tuesday. The event will be aired live to encourage other people to get the jab as newly cases and death toll have been rising dramatically since late November. “The president will receive the vaccine next Wednesday and we will discuss details of the event on Friday,” according to Heru Budi Harto, the head of the presidential secretariat.
Vaccines and Halal
(ANTARA) – The Indonesian government will not begin administering COVID-19 vaccines without a fatwa or a decision about the halal status of the vaccines from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the vice presidential spokesperson said.
Therefore, the COVID-19 vaccine program will be undertaken after MUI announces its decision on the halal status of the vaccine, that is, whether it is religiously acceptable for consumption according to Muslim law, Masduki Baidlowi told journalists here on Tuesday. The Indonesian Ulema Council Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics (LPPOM MUI) team members have been working on matters related to the halal status of China’s Sinovac vaccine, he said.
The Plan
In a bid to escape the health and economic crisis through herd immunity, the government expects to inoculate 181.5 million of the country’s 269 million citizens — or roughly 70 percent of the population in 15 months from mid-January 2021 to March 2022. The plan was recently announced by the Health Ministry, which elaborated that the first phase would take place from January to April 2021 and would prioritize 1.3 million health workers and 17.4 million public workers in all 34 provinces, followed by the general public in the targeted age group.
GeNose
GeNose C19, an instant Covid-19 detection tool developed by Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, has secured a distribution license from the Health Ministry, paving its way for public use, the university’s development team said in a statement on Saturday.