Indonesia begins trials of home COVID-19 vaccine on humans – Henry’s Club

Surabaya: Indonesia began testing a home-grown COVID-19 vaccine on humans on Wednesday after getting a nod from the drug regulator as the country faces a growing wave of virus cases.
The research on the “Merah Putih” (“Red White”) vaccine – named after the colors of the Indonesian national flag – is led by Airalanga University and Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia.
The project has faced delays since its launch in 2020, but officials now expect to authorize its use by mid-2222 if the tests are successful.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the drug, to be introduced in the later stages of Indonesia’s vaccination campaign, could be donated to other countries as a booster jab or as a vaccine for children aged three to six years. could.
“I have discussed the matter with the president and he has agreed to use this vaccine as a donation to countries in need,” Sadikin said at a launch event for human trials in Surabaya on Wednesday.
The first and second phases of the clinical trial will involve 90 and 405 adult volunteers, respectively.
The Merah Putih vaccine has been given “halal” certification from the Indonesian Ulema Council, the Muslim-majority country’s top religious cleric’s body, according to Mohamed Nasih, Dean of Erlangga University.
“We hope that with this halal certification, there will be more public confidence to use this vaccine,” Nasih told reporters.
Indonesia has approved 13 vaccines and boosters, but has mainly used Chinese-made jabs, and has struggled to procure enough doses for a population of more than 270 million people.
The Indonesian government has stressed the importance of developing and manufacturing national vaccines since the beginning of the pandemic.
The country was ravaged by COVID-19 in July last year as the Delta variant swept the country.
Daily cases dropped significantly towards the end of the year but the spread of Omicron recently brought the country back to 30,000 confirmed cases a day.
Overall, Southeast Asia’s largest economy has reported more than 4.5 million confirmed cases, with nearly 145,000 deaths.
The rollout of vaccination is also relatively slow, with about 48 percent of the population vaccinated with two jabs and only five million with a booster shot.