Coronavirus: Indonesia defends use of China’s Sinovac amid surge in Delta variant

Name: Covid-19 Delta variant: how infectious it is and how it may ‘shift thinking’ on countries reopening
Uploaded: 2021-07-02T12:53:34.000Z
Duration: 5 min 33 s
Description: Covid-19 Delta variant: how infectious it is and how it may ‘shift thinking’ on countries reopening

The country posted record highs of more than 25,000 infections and 539 deaths on Friday

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin says the problem is not the vaccine, but the mutant strain. Sinovac is the only manufacturer to have kept to its commitment, he adds

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Relatives at the grave of a Covid-19 victim in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: EPA

Resty Woro Yuniar

Published: 8:53pm, 2 Jul 2021Updated: 9:29pm, 2 Jul 2021

The Indonesian health minister has defended the country’s use of China’s Sinovac vaccine, blaming a surge of Covid-19 cases over the past month on the more contagious Delta variant.

Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Friday it was wrong to blame the vaccine for the surge as countries like Israel and Britain, where most people were given the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca jabs, were also experiencing surges.

“The issue that we are facing is not about the different efficacy between vaccines, it is primarily because of the Delta variant. It hits every country, so nobody is safe,” Budi said in a webinar held by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

“Yes, the number of infections is increasing drastically, but the [Sinovac] vaccine reduces the risks from severe to mild, and from mild to asymptomatic. The number of deaths in the second wave, compared to the first in terms of percentage, is actually fewer.”

05:33

Covid-19 Delta variant: how infectious it is and how it may ‘shift thinking’ on countries reopening

Indonesia posted another record high of daily infections on Friday with 25,830 cases, and record virus-related deaths of 539.

The minister said that Indonesia was not relying solely on Sinovac to inoculate its target of all of the country’s adult population of 181.5 million. However, he said Sinovac was the only vaccine manufacturer that had kept to its commitment to quickly deliver the jabs.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x