UNAIR NEWS – The success of Dr. H. Satria Arief Prabowo, MD, PhD (Satria) in developing an oral vaccine for TB became a trigger for him to also take part in the Covid-19 vaccine development team which is currently a major problem in the world. The vaccine development has been carried out since April 2020.
“Furthermore, the high case of Covid-19 in Indonesia and East Java in particular, makes Satria as a doctor need to contribute to provide solutions,” he said.
The vaccine being developed is Covid-19 oral vaccine in the form of tablets that can be consumed. The oral vaccine aims to improve the human immune system (immunity) in fighting the virus. Slightly different from drugs that target the virus directly.
“This strategy (oral vaccine in the form of tablets, ed ) will be more efficient and can be given to more people in a shorter time, compared to injection (injection, ed ),” explained Satria.
The vaccine development is in cooperation with an international consortium. The vaccine prototype is ready. Clinical trials are also underway and will run in Canada, Russia, Ukraine, China, Britain, Mongolia, and in the near future also in Surabaya.
The vaccine is named V-SARS-Covid-19. The vaccine contains a component of the virus that causes Covid-19 disease that has been inactivated so it is safe to healthy people to prevent illness or sick people to speed healing.
“Our target is that in the middle of this year the vaccine can be given to medical personnel who are at high risk of exposure to Covid-19 and patients who are in critical condition,” he continued.
Meanwhile, widespread use of vaccines is targeted in the end of this year. This is to prevent the second wave of Covid-19 which is feared to be greater in scale.
In addition to be in a vaccine development team in Europe, Satria is also a consultant from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK (LSHTM) for the development of the Covid-19 oral vaccine in Indonesia, at the Institute of Tropical Disease (ITD) UNAIR in collaboration with Immunitor Ltd. which is a non-profit vaccine development institute in Europe.
During this pandemic, Satria believed that God would give the best for His servants who tried. Satria also believes that parents’ blessing has an important role in life. Satria hopes that UNAIR community and Indonesian people can be enthusiastic, sincere, and strict in their service and work.
“InsyaAllah, the results will not betray the efforts we all make,” he said.
Satria also believes that hard work and devotion are the main keys to success. According to him, someone could be smart, but if he does not want to work hard, then the achievements obtained will not be better than those who are not smarter but work hard. For this reason, the spirit of working hard, willing to try to achieve goals, and a high work ethic need to be instilled early on.
“Hopefully all the dedication of medical workers who are currently struggling to treat Covid-19 patients in Indonesia are rewarded by Allah SWT,” he concluded. (*)
Author: Galuh Mega Kurnia
Editor : Binti Q. Masruroh
