Indonesian President Joko Widodo expects a massive introduction of the coronavirus vaccine in the country by the middle of next year, he said in connection with the beginning of clinical trials of a drug developed jointly with Chinese colleagues.
"We have been working on our own vaccine for three months," the Jakarta Post quoted him as saying on Thursday. "I hope that the drug will be ready as soon as possible, perhaps by mid - 2021," Widodo added.
About 20 volunteers have already received their first injections in recent days, and about 1.6 thousand volunteers will take part in the trials at this stage. Ridwan Kamil, the Governor of West Java province, was one of the first to apply. According to the most optimistic forecasts, the clinical trials will last until January next year.
The vaccine is being developed by the state-owned pharmaceutical holding Bio Farma and China's Sinovac Biotech. It is expected that Indonesia will be able to produce about 250 million doses of this drug per year.
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Based on materials from TASS