(Adds AstraZeneca comment)
By Stanley Widianto
JAKARTA, April 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia is in talks with
China to secure as many as 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to
plug a gap in deliveries after delays in arrivals of AstraZeneca
shots, the health minister said on Thursday.
Indonesia would receive 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca
vaccine via a bilateral deal in 2021, instead of 50 million
initially agreed, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a
parliamentary hearing.
The remaining 30 million doses were due to be shipped by the
second quarter of 2022, he said.
Budi said the government had "embarked on a discussion with
the Chinese government to ask for an additional 90-100 million
(doses)".
"We're also asking for vaccines from the U.S. when they're
done with their own vaccinations and sell their vaccines
overseas."
Besides AstraZeneca, Indonesia relies heavily on vaccines
produced by China's Sinovac Biotech for inoculations
which began in January. It aims to reach 181.5 million people
within a year in a bid to reach herd immunity.
Sinovac has supplied about 56 million doses so far.
Indonesia was also due to receive 54 million doses of the
AstraZeneca vaccine in phases via the COVAX sharing scheme,
though Budi said Indian export restrictions would delay
shipments in April.
"That's something that we cannot accept and we're
negotiating with AstraZeneca. So that's 100 million doses of
vaccine whose schedule remains unclear," he said.
In response, AstraZeneca Indonesia, through a public
relations representative, referred Reuters to a statement dated
April 2 that said it aimed to start first deliveries in June.
Indonesia has also launched a private vaccination programme
for companies to buy government-procured vaccines for their
staff.
State-owned company Bio Farma had started negotiations with
China's Sinopharm and Cansino, along with the producer
of Russia's Sputnik V, for vaccines for the private programme,
Bio Farma chief executive Honesti Basyir told the parliamentary
hearing.
The Southeast Asian country has been struggling to control
one of Asia's worst epidemics, with 1.55 million cases and
42,200 deaths. It has administered at least one vaccine shot to
more than 9.22 million people.
European and British regulators said on Wednesday they had
found possible links between AstraZeneca's vaccine and very rare
cases of blood clots, but reaffirmed the vaccine's importance in
protecting people against COVID-19.
(Additional Reporting by Nilufar Rizki
Editing by Ed Davies, Nick Macfie)