Asian Tech Press (Oct 14) -- Indonesia formally unveiled its first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine IndoVac on Thursday.

Indonesia's drug and food agency (BPOM) granted an emergency use authorization for IndoVac in September, allowing it to be administered to people over the age of 18.

President Joko Widodo said at a launch ceremony in Bandung city that the IndoVac vaccine is a new milestone for Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry, and that "from now on, we can produce our own COVID-19 vaccine."

Joko said, Indonesia's state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma plans to produce 20 million doses of the IndoVac vaccine this year and 40 million next year.