Indonesia to Start Administering Sinovac as COVID-19 Booster

TheIndonesia.co - The Indonesia government has started the distribution of Sinovac vaccine to regions across the country after Supreme Court ruled that the vaccine can be used as COVID-19 booster.

Upon the decision announced by the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Health has started preparing the vaccine’s doses to be used widely as booster for Indonesians who have been fully vaccinated.

“As of now, we have started to gradually distribute Sinovac vaccine to regions for booster,” spokesperson for the Ministry’s COVID-19 vaccination Siti Nadia Tarmizi said on Tuesday, April 26, as reported by Antara.

As also reported by the Cabinet Secretariat, in response to the ruling of Supreme Court on recommendation to supply halal vaccines for national vaccination program, Ministry of Health has announced that Sinovac vaccine will be used as a COVID-19 booster shot.

“Therefore, for those who are comfortable to use Sinovac vaccine, we provide an opportunity to use the vaccine as vaccine booster,” Tarmizi said.

Sinovac vaccine has previously obtained halal recommendation from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) through its 2021 fatwa while while Sinopharm vaccine for Gotong Royong vaccination (vaccination in mutual cooperation) mechanism obtained halal fatwa from the MUI in 2022.

In addition to the two vaccines, the Indonesian Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) has also issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen vaccines.

“Vaccines that have been widely circulated in Indonesia are also vaccines that are used in other Muslim countries, such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Kuwait, Morocco, and Bahrain, and it is proven that COVID-19 cases in those Muslim countries have been under control as of now,” Tarmizi explained.