Indonesia approves five COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots

Indonesia approves five COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots
Health workers walk through a market as they conduct mass coronavirus tests in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

Indonesian authorities on Monday granted emergency authorization for the use of five different COVID-19 vaccines as booster shots that will prioritize vulnerable groups.

Penny Lukito, head of Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency, said Sinovac, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Zifivax vaccines would be distributed as a third shot in the country. Lukito added there are several additional vaccines that are currently in the process of clinical trials to obtain emergency use permits.

"We need to give the to maintain against COVID-19 infection," Lukito said at a news conference on Monday.

The Health Ministry-run program will begin Wednesday and put at the front of the line high-risk populations aged 18 years and above, namely the elderly and groups of immunocompromised individuals, according to a ministry statement. The government has distributed booster shots to medical workers since July of last year.

The government is also distributing free booster vaccines for the elderly and other .

Indonesia, as of Sunday, had recorded more than 4.2 million COVID-19 cases and more than 144,000 deaths. During the peak of the last surge in July, it hit 56,757 cases per day as hospitals became overwhelmed by sick patients and ran out of beds and oxygen supplies.

116 millions people in the country have received the complete two doses of vaccines out of a government-set target of 208 million people.

  • Indonesia approves five COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots
    People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus walk through a market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim
  • Indonesia approves five COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots
    A woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus walks through a market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

© 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Citation: Indonesia approves five COVID-19 vaccines for booster shots (2022, January 10) retrieved 8 May 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-01-indonesia-covid-vaccines-booster-shots.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Australia approves vaccine booster shots for adults

3 shares

Feedback to editors