Indonesia vaccine deal with China viewed as vital for region

Expanding the partnership between China and Indonesia on vaccine production is crucial to Southeast Asia's battle against the pandemic, public health experts said. Indonesia is currently using vaccines jointly produced by the state-owned pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma and China's Sinovac Biotech, a partnership that has allowed Sinovac to conduct clinical trials of its CoronaVac vaccine in Indonesia.

Indonesia's plan to become a regional hub will allow it to increase its manufacturing capacity, which in turn will help Southeast Asia's vaccine rollout, said Sulfikar Amir, associate professor of science, technology, and society at SSS in Singapore's NTU. He added that Sino-Indonesian cooperation can also be extended toward the development of other vaccines.

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