Indonesia Temporarily Halts Use of Specific AstraZeneca Vaccine Batch Amid Safety Review

The Indonesian Ministry of Health announced on the 16th that the country has temporarily suspended the distribution and use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine batch CTMAV547.

Nadia, spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Health, told the media that day that Indonesia's National Agency for Drug and Food Control (BPOM) would conduct toxicity and sterility testing on this batch of 448,480 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine within the next two weeks to further verify its safety.

This batch of vaccines is part of the 3.852 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines that Indonesia received through the World Health Organization-led "COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access" (COVAX) facility, arrived in Indonesia on April 26, and has currently been distributed to the country's military, the capital province of Jakarta, and North Sulawesi Province.

Nadia stated that, with the exception of this batch, other AstraZeneca vaccines will continue to be administered. She emphasized that the government ensures the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccines currently in use. Nadia did not specify whether the suspension of this particular batch of AstraZeneca vaccines is related to the death of a vaccine recipient reported earlier this month.

According to Indonesian media reports, on the 5th of this month, a 21-year-old man from Jakarta experienced severe adverse reactions after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine and died the following day.

Indonesia launched its national vaccination program on January 13. The country has currently granted emergency use authorization for three COVID-19 vaccines: Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm.

As of the 15th, over 13.72 million citizens in the country have been vaccinated, of whom more than 8.95 million have completed the two-dose regimen. According to the national vaccination plan, approximately 182 million out of 270 million citizens are scheduled to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by March 2022.

Indonesian authorities announced on the afternoon of the 16th that the country recorded 3,080 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the day, bringing the cumulative total to 1,739,750; 126 new deaths were reported, raising the cumulative death toll to 48,093. (End)