Jakarta (ANTARA) - PT Bio Farma made assurance of no compromise in the quality of AstraZeneca-developed vaccines during distribution, including by supervising the temperature of spaces where shots are stored and the process to send them to regions.
"The temperature is monitored at the Bio Farma Command Center. If there is a change in temperature along the way, for instance, then the Command Center will be notified. Should there be any temperature anomalies along the way, the driver will be informed by officers at the Command Center," Head of External Affairs of state-owned enterprise PT Bio Farma, Edwin G. Prigadi, confirmed telephonically on Tuesday.
Prigadi explained that the vaccines are distributed aboard vehicles equipped for vaccine storage wherein the temperature is maintained between two and eight degrees Celsius for the duration of the journey.
Officers of the Bio Farma Command Center supervise the vaccine storage space during the distribution process to ensure that the quality of the shots is maintained.
Prigadi further remarked that until Monday (Mar 22), the company had distributed AstraZeneca shots from its warehouse in Bandung, West Java, to six provincial regions via land and air routes.
"As for the distribution target, we await (information) from the Ministry of Health. We handle the distribution aspect," he clarified.
Head of Bio Farma Corporate Communications, Iwan Setiawan, expounded that the AstraZeneca vaccine was provided through cooperation between the Indonesian government and Covax/GAVI, a global alliance aimed at increasing access to immunization.
The AstraZeneca shots arrived in Indonesia on March 8, and the rollout began on March 20.
Bio Farma conducted the vaccine distribution process in accordance with the Health Ministry’s directives.
"The first vaccine distribution was conducted on March 20, 2021, wherein 45 thousand vials were distributed to East Java, while Bali and East Nusa Tenggara each received five thousand vials," Setiawan noted.
On Monday (March 22), Bio Farma distributed five thousand vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the DKI Jakarta Province, Riau Islands, and North Sulawesi.
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