Indonesia became the first country to approve the U.S.-made Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

Novavax and partner Serum Institute of India made the announcement Monday, sparking a 16% rise in Novavax's share price on the Nasdaq.

The Indonesian government expects to receive 20 million doses by the end of the year, with hopes of vaccinating more of its population soon. Only 27.6% of Indonesians are fully vaccinated.

The vaccine requires two doses of a purified form of COVID-19 that stimulates an immune response and is considered one of the safest and most effective vaccines on the market. Producing the vaccine, however, proves more costly and time-consuming than other vaccines that are made with mRNA.

The Food and Drug Administration and U.S. regulators cited poor quality control issues as the cause for delaying Novavax's approval.

President and CEO Stanley C. Erck said it's the first authorization of a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine and that the company expects more authorizations in the coming weeks and months.

"The first authorization of Novavax' COVID-19 vaccine exemplifies our commitment to equitable global access and will fill a vital need for Indonesia, which despite being the fourth most populous nation on earth, continues to work to procure sufficient vaccine for its population," Erck said in a statement.

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