Unicef to use Indonesia's nOPV2 vaccine to curb polio
30 Sep 2022 11:28pm
nOPV2 will be used by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to prevent the spread of polio outbreaks worldwide.
State-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma was awarded a contract from UNICEF to supply polio vaccines for 2022-2023 period, its president Honesti Basyir said.
"We’ve contributed to global public health for being able to prepare a stockpile to those who need them during the outbreaks,” he said in a statement.
UNICEF procures over one billion doses of polio vaccines annually and cooperates with vaccine manufacturers to ensure adequate supplies for routine immunisation and vaccination campaigns.
Bio Farma currently contributes 67 per cent of the global supply of polio vaccines.
Honesti said among the countries in Africa that have used the vaccine are Algeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.
In another development, Indonesia has issued an emergency use authorisation for Bio Farma’s Indovac vaccine as active immunisation to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in adults.
The approved Indovac uses recombinant protein subunit technology developed by Bio Farma and Baylor College of Medicine, United States, said head of the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) Penny Lukito.
In a press conference today, she said the vaccine already received a halal certificate from the Indonesian Ulema Council and the country’s National Body of Halal Assurance.
Bio Farma is planning to produce 20 million doses of Indovac at its facility in Bandung, West Java. - BERNAMA
