Indonesia may be ready to start making its own mRNA vaccines after being picked by the World Health Organization to get a technology transfer to become Southeast Asia’s COVID-19 vaccine hub.
PT Bio Farma will start generating mRNA doses, according to a statement from the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises.
The company is one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers, with a capacity of 3.2 billion doses per year.
“It is the kind of solution that poor countries need,” Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Twitter, “a solution that empowers, a solution that enhances our self-reliance, a solution that allows us to contribute to global health resilience.”
For years, Indonesia has sought international assistance in developing its own COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate its population, which is the world’s fourth-largest, and to ship to adjacent countries.
Due to a shortage of boosters, it has been forced to distribute half-doses to ensure that all 270 million individuals are covered.