Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin received the first injection of Chinese CoronaVac vaccine at his official residence here on Wednesday morning.

The vaccine was injected by dr. Dwi Edi Wahono from a presidential team of doctors.

The vice president, who is now aged 77 years old, represents the elderlies in the country aged 60 years and over.

Earlier, on February 5, the Indonesian National Agency of Drug and Food Control issued an Emergency Use of Authorization (EUA) for CoronaVac vaccine for people aged 60 years and over.

"On February 5, 2021, the agency issued an approval for the emergency use of CoronaVac vaccine for people aged 60 and over with two doses of vaccine injections each, with an interval of 28 days," the agency’s head Penny K Lukito said.

She explained that the approval for emergency use was granted after the agency and a number of parties, namely the National Commission for Drug Assessment, the Indonesian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ITAGI), allergy and immunology specialists, and geriatric specialists reviewed the results of the CoronaVac clinical trials in China and Brazil involving elderly groups.

The agency also monitored and obtained data on the first and second phases of CoronaVac clinical trials in China and that the third phase in Brazil.

The first and second phase clinical trials in China involving 400 elderlies showed that CoronaVac which was given in two doses during 28 days apart, resulted good immunogenicity.

After 28 days of the second dose inoculation, the volunteers had seroconversion rates of 97.96 percent and no third-degree serious side effects reported due to vaccination.

"The third phase clinical trial that took place in Brazil involving 600 elderlies also confirmed that the vaccine is safe and no serious side effects have been reported," Penny said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ministry of Health said that the percentage of elderlies infected with COVID-19 in Indonesia was 10 percent of the total cases, but the total number who died due to the disease reached 50 percent.

Therefore, in the second phase of the national COVID-19 vaccination program, which officially started on Wednesday, the government targets 21.5 million elderlies.

The first phase of the national vaccination program, targeting 1.46 million health workers started on January 14.

The vice president's vaccination was expected to provide a clear evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine for elderlies is safe.

Reporting by Indonesia Window