AstraZeneca vaccines in Bali are not from suspended batch: health official
The batch of AstraZeneca vaccines recently suspended from distribution in Indonesia are not among the ones distributed in Bali, the province’s health agency chief has confirmed.
Ketut Suarjaya on Sunday listed the batch codes of AstraZeneca vaccines that Bali has received thus far: CTMAV514, CTMAV516, CTMAV539, and CTMAV544.
His statement follows the Health Ministry’s decision to suspend batch CTMAV437, containing 448.480 doses, from distribution and use, as the Food and Drugs Monitoring Agency (BPOM) carries out toxicity and sterilization testing over the next two weeks.
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“It can be confirmed that all AstraZeneca vaccines for Bali are not within the suspended batch. And will continue to be used,” Suarjaya said.
The Health Ministry has also stated that all other doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are safe for administration.
Bali first received AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines as it rolled out the mass vaccination program in the province’s “green zones” — Ubud, Sanur and Nusa Dua — back in March, where 170,487 doses were administered. Another 501,000 doses were delivered at the start of this month, 500,000 of which are designated for the general public.
There have been no reports of severe side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine in Bali.
Though health authorities did not establish a causal link, the suspension of CTMAV547 came after a 22-year-old Jakarta man died from blood clots shortly after receiving an AstraZeneca jab. Officials have not explicitly confirmed if he was given a shot from the CTMAV547 batch.
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