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The lead scientist who oversaw the China-made Sinovac clinical trials in Indonesia died on Wednesday (July 7) due to suspected Covid-19 complications.
Indonesian news Liputan 6 reported that the scientist, Novilia Sjafri Bachtiar, was admitted to Santosa Hospital in Bandung, West Java, and was receiving treatment due to Covid-19.
Sadly, she died on July 7, 2021.
Reuters cited Kumparan news service, saying that Novilia had died of Covid-19.
In an Instagram post, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir described her death as "a great loss" as she was the lead scientist and head for a number of clinical trials done by Bio Farma, including clinical trials for Covid-19 together with Sinovac.
131 vaccinated healthcare workers died of Covid-19 since June
Jakarta Post reported that based on the figures by an independent data group, Lapor Covid-19, a total of 131 vaccinated healthcare workers died due to Covid-19 complications since June this year.
Of this group, 50 deaths among healthcare workers were reported in the month of July.
According to the group, most of the healthcare workers were vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine.
The Guardian further reported that in a town in central Java, more than 500 fully vaccinated medical workers tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two weeks of June.
Indonesia is currently facing a resurgence of Covid-19 infections driven by the Delta variant, first detected in India.
Sinovac spokesman Liu Peicheng told Reuters that preliminary results based on blood samples from those vaccinated three-fold reduction in neutralising effect against the Delta variant.
Top image via IndoUnik/Twitter