The Indonesian government is aiming to vaccinate two-thirds of the population in order to reach herd immunity against the Covid-19 virus, but the sheer size of the population and its geographical extent make the vaccination task a very challenging one. In order to balance the vaccination drive with on-going productivity, they have enlisted the help of private corporations to launch and pay for inoculation drives. In March, state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) signed a cooperation agreement on the implementation of the self-funded vaccination program ('vaksin gotong-royong')that targets employees of private companies and their families. While this public-private cooperation may sound like a good way to hasten the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine, some observers are worried about problems to do with vaccine supply, potential for corruption, and low health standards in the implementation. To talk about the role of the private sector in Indonesia's fight against Covid-19, Dr Charlotte Setijadi chats with Dr Andreasta Meliala, a public health expert from the Faculty of Medicine at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.
Photo by Dhemas Reviyanto for Antara.