Indonesia has launched human trials of a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine with about 1,600 volunteers set in place to take part in the six-month study.

Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo who highlighted that the COVID-19 threat will not end until all people in Indonesia are vaccinated, today toured a factory in Bandung city, operated by state-owned pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma, where production would begin.

 Sinovac Biotech is responsible for the production of the vaccine candidates, who are among just a few in the world to enter Phase 3 clinical trials or large-scale testing on humans — the last step before regulatory approval.

Note that the treatment, known as “CoronaVac” is already being tested on 9,000 health workers in Brazil which is the second-hardest-hit country in the coronavirus pandemic after the United States. The governor of Indonesia’s most populous province, West Java, was among 1,620 volunteers slated to take part in clinical testing, which was set to wrap up in February.

According to Indonesian officials, should the vaccine proves safe and effective, there are plans to produce up to 250 million doses for the sprawling archipelago of nearly 270 million.