Risk Assessment Report – 16 November 2020

• Worldwide, there have been over 54.7 million cases and more than 1.32 million deaths attributed to COVID-19.

• The 37th ASEAN Summit and related Summit wrapped up on Sunday (November 15) afternoon with the adoption of the ASEAN

Comprehensive Recovery Framework among major outcomes. Leaders from ASEAN countries, the Republic of Korea (RoK),

Japan and China shared the view on the need to enhance their cooperation in the COVID-19 fight and economic recovery.

During the Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced USD 1 million aid to ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund,

Leaders from ASEAN and India highlighted the significant importance of the ASEAN-India strategic partnership for peace,

stability, development and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. Regarding regional and international situation, the two sides

pledged to continue working together to deal with traditional and non-traditional challenges. In this summit, the Republic of

Korea (RoK) leader expressed his hope that essential business travel will expand further to the extent that it does not undermine

disease control efforts as COVID-19 persists longer than anticipated. He suggested the countries upgrade cooperation in the

area of public health and work towards the development and equitable supply of vaccines and treatments, saying it is a

must to establish a timely and transparent coordination mechanism to prepare against new infectious diseases which can

strike at any time. Based on collaboration between Japan, China and the RoK, a contribution of USD300,000 has been made

from the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Fund to the ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund. The Chinese leader expressed his belief

that the countries could work together to mitigate the pandemic and reopen the economy, thus opening up a bright prospect

of peace, development and prosperity for the region.

• Indonesia has entered the monitoring stage of a phase three clinical trial for the Chinese-developed vaccine Sinovac. In

Indonesia, the trial is being conducted in Bandung and participated in by 1,620 volunteers of multiple ethnicities across

Indonesia. Some of the volunteers are of European descent. The Bio Farma Director hoped that the clinical trial team would

finish the monitoring phase by May 2021. The monitoring result will be delivered to the Indonesia Food and Drug Monitoring

Agency (BPOM) through an interim report in early January next year to obtain Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). The report

itself will consist of evidence on efficacy, immunogenicity and safety. He added that the phase three clinical trial was part of

global multicenter clinical trials conducted by four nations, namely Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Turkey, and involving over

20,000 volunteers. He explained that the clinical trials were being conducted in different countries to see the vaccine’s

efficacy in various races worldwide. Indonesia reported 4,106 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday (November 15), taking the

total number of cases to 467,113. On Friday (November 13), Indonesia said it has sought emergency authorization to start a

mass vaccination campaign by the end of the year. Indonesia’s President said that plans were already advanced to distribute

the vaccine across the entire country. If approval is granted by the country's food and drug agency, known by its Indonesian

acronym BPOM, it will mean Indonesia - with 270 million people, the world's fourth most populous country - will be among the

first in the world to roll out a coronavirus vaccine.