JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir will be travelling to the UK and Switzerland to explore bilateral and multilateral collaboration to procure COVID-19 vaccines.
According to Mrs Marsudi, as part of the visit to Europe she and Mr Thohir will also meet with representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Alliances for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). "This visit aims to secure commitments for COVID-19 vaccine procurement from other sources," she said.
The government, she added, will encourage stronger medium-term and long-term collaboration between overseas vaccine procurement partners and PT Bio Farma (Persero) as the domestic vaccine producer. "Through the COVAC initiative, the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines when available will be done through UNICEF's Procurement Division in Denmark," she said. (LK/MS)