Indonesia approves AstraZeneca vaccine for use

Indonesian officials on Friday announced that the country will resume use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine after the Southeast Asian nation delayed its rollout due to concerns across the globe that the vaccine could contribute to blood clots. 

Indonesia’s Food and Drug Authority said in a statement that the “benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca outweigh the possible risks, so that we can start to use it,” according to The Associated Press.

The decision follows an announcement by the European Union’s top drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which on Thursday said that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective to use. It did add that it would include a warning of blood clots as a rare side effect. 

Indonesia, which has already started to administer the vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, will now begin distribution of the 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that it received earlier this month through the global vaccine initiative COVAX. 

The Southeast Asian nation was among several countries across the world to pause distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Oxford University, following reports of blood clots among some people who received the vaccination. 

The European Union’s announcement came a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a recommendation that countries continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

“Vaccination against Covid-19 will not reduce illness or deaths from other causes,” the WHO said in a statement. “Thromboembolic events are known to occur frequently. Venous thromboembolism is the third most common cardiovascular disease globally.”

“At this time, WHO considers that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue,” the organization added. 

AstraZeneca has said that based on data on the approximately 17 million people who have already received the inoculation in Europe and the United Kingdom, fewer than 40 people developed blood clots. 

The AP reported that Indonesia, whose vaccination campaign began in January, has a goal of inoculating more than 181 million people in the country of 270 million by March 2022. 

As of Friday, Indonesia has had nearly 1.5 million coronavirus infections, with more than 39,000 people dead as a result of the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.