JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has approved Sinovac Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in the elderly, according to a letter from the food and medicine agency, which could change the country’s strategy, which has given priority to the active population.
This strategy was partly due to limited vaccine safety data for the elderly, authorities said.
The Food and Drug Administration (BPOM) said in a letter seen by Reuters that it had authorized the use of CoronaVac of Sinovac for the elderly “given the emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic and the limited information on the benefits and safety of that vaccine.” ”.
It was sent to the Indonesian partner of Sinovac, the state-owned company Bio Farma.
Wiku Adisasmito, a spokesman for the country’s COVID-19 working group, confirmed the letter’s authenticity.
Bio Farma confirmed that it had received the letter, although it did not provide further details.
A launch of the Sinovac vaccine in Indonesia last month involved 3 million doses and was intended for medical workers and civil servants.
Government data show that nearly 800,000 received the first blow, but authorities said they would produce another 25 million by the end of March.
Indonesia, which has suffered more than 31,000 deaths from COVID-19, aims to vaccinate more than 180 million people, or about two-thirds of its 270 million population, in a year.
Several countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom that have already started vaccinations give priority to older people who are more vulnerable to respiratory diseases.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Health declined to comment, although it said the elderly would 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 health regulator.
A phase I and II study in China showed that the vaccine can safely trigger the immune response for older participants, but Sinovac warned that data on the rate of protection among people aged 60 and over were “Limited”.
“When the relevant institutions … use this vaccine, the need to inoculate this product should be assessed taking into account the health status and risk of exposure of this age group,” he said.
Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, said that “if we want to reduce the number of hospitalizations, we should aim for immunization for the elderly.”
Additional reporting by Maikel Jefriando, Fathin Ungku; edited by Jason Neely