Exclusive: Indonesia approves Chinese Sinovac vaccine for the elderly

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has approved Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in the elderly, according to a letter from the Food and Medicines Agency, potentially changing the strategy of the country that gave prioritizing its workforce first.

This strategy was in part due to limited data on the safety of the vaccine for older people, authorities said.

The Food and Medicines Agency (BPOM) said in a letter seen by Reuters that it had authorized the use of Sinovac’s CoronaVac for the elderly “taking into account the emergency situation of the pandemic. COVID-19 and limited information on the benefits and safety of this vaccine ”.

It was sent to Sinovac’s Indonesian partner, the state-owned Bio Farma.

Wiku Adisasmito, spokesperson for the country’s COVID-19 task force, confirmed the letter’s authenticity.

Bio Farma confirmed receiving the letter, but did not provide further details.

A deployment of the Sinovac vaccine in Indonesia last month involved 3 million doses and was aimed at medical workers and government officials.

Government data shows nearly 800,000 people received their first injection, but authorities said they are expected to produce 25 million more by the end of March.

Indonesia, which has suffered more than 31,000 deaths from COVID-19, aims to immunize more than 180 million people, or about two-thirds of its population of 270 million, in one year.

Several countries like the United States and Great Britain which have already started vaccinations are prioritizing the elderly who are more vulnerable to respiratory diseases.

Indonesia’s health ministry declined to comment, although it said older people should receive the vaccine by April.

China’s Sinovac said on Saturday that CoronaVac had been approved for use by the general public by China’s Medicines Regulator.

A Phase I and II trial in China showed the vaccine could safely elicit an immune response in older participants, but Sinovac warned that data on the rate of protection in people aged 60 and older was “Limited”.

“When the competent institutions … use this vaccine, the need to inoculate this product must be assessed taking into account the state of health and the risk of exposure of this age group,” he said. declared.

Pandu Riono, epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, said that “if we want to stem the number of hospitalizations, we have to put an end to the vaccination of the elderly”.