Presidential Spokesperson: President Jokowi Receives Sinovac Vaccine Injection

Presidential Spokesperson M. Fadjroel Rachman affirmed that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo received injection of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine.

“President Jokowi received the Sinovac vaccine twice because he believes that the vaccine is halal, safe and effective. The vaccine is the exact same one as the one injected into the 1.5 million medical personnel,” Fadjroel said on Saturday (30/01).

The Spokesperson dismissed doubts and negative narratives circulating on social media about the vaccine injected into the President.

The Sinovac vaccine, Fadjroel said, will also be used in the public vaccination program.

For the record, to achieve herd immunity, the Government sets the target to vaccinate 70 percent of Indonesia’s population or 181.5 million people.

For this purpose, the Government has secured the procurement of 426 million doses of vaccine from various sources such as Sinovac, Novavax, AstraZeneca, BioNTech-Pfizer, and COVAX/GAVI. Currently, 3 million vaccines produced by Sinovac have arrived in Indonesia as well as 15 million raw materials for vaccines, which will be further processed by PT Bio Farma.

The Spokesperson also stated that between March to October 2020, on Facebook and Instagram, there were 12 million misinformation and disinformation created on COVID-19, specifically on the halalness, safety, and effectiveness of vaccines.

Fadjroel assured that the Sinovac vaccine has been declared “holy and halal” based on a fatwa from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). The vaccine, he said, has also obtained an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency and has been tested for safety and effectiveness. (TGH/UN) (FI/LW)