Indonesian health officials yesterday conducted a simulation for COVID-19 vaccination in Bali’s Badung regency, as the country gears up preparations to distribute potential vaccines for the infectious disease.
The Health Ministry has chosen two community health clinics (Puskesmas) in Bali and Bogor, West Java to train medical workers for Indonesia’s vaccination program. Officially, the plan is to prioritize medical personnel and other workers in health facilities, as well as workers aged 18 to 59, once the vaccine becomes available.
“We don’t yet have the vaccine but we are hoping that the vaccine can become an effective means to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic,” M Budi Hidayat, secretary to the director general of Disease Prevention and Control at the ministry, said.
At this stage, the simulations in Bali and Bogor appear focused on adherence of health protocols, including hand washing and temperature checks upon patient’s arrival, followed by an examination by the medical workers who will administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Bali was chosen because this is a tourist destination and we want to make sure that Bali remains safe,” Budi said.
The simulation is part of Indonesia’s ongoing efforts to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine can be well-distributed across the archipelago, coordination of which involves the drafting of various scenarios and logistical preparations.
There seems to be promising progress on Indonesia’s own development of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The ongoing advanced critical trials in Bandung, West Java conducted by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech in collaboration with state-owned pharmaceutical holding company PT Bio Farma and Bandung’s Padjadjaran University, for example, shows that the vaccine candidate is so far safe for humans.
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