By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, May 19: The supply of one million doses of Sinovac vaccine to Sarawak will be distributed by Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd (Pharmaniaga).
National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the federal government has ordered 12 million doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine with an agreement with Pharmaniaga to provide for PICK.
Pharmaniaga is a pharmaceutical company which has received the conditional approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency in April 2021 to bottle the “fill and finish” Sinovac vaccine for Malaysia.
“In our negotiation with Pharmaniaga, I have been very clear that the federal government’s order needs to be fulfilled first, the entire 12 million doses whether it is finished products or ‘fill and finish’ from Pharmaniaga.
“I have told Pharmaniaga the entire 12 million doses for PICK to be delivered and fulfilled first regardless whether it is “fill and finish” or finished products.
“As a result of that, any further orders from the states for the finished products from the Sinovac factory in Beijing will be after the federal government’s orders are fulfilled entirely.
“I have communicated this to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
“I have informed him that there is no need for Sarawak to purchase any extra Sinovac finished vaccine because I will deliver for Sarawak as I will deliver to other states as soon as we get the vaccine supplies from Sinovac, Pfizer as well as AstraZeneca.
“I have given the assurance to the Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak and he is happy with the assurance that I have given to him,” he told reporters during a virtual press conference held today.
Khairy was responding to a question by a reporter on the purchase of 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine from the Sarawak government recently.
He clarified that the issue of finished products of Covid-19 vaccine arose because previously there were no availability of finished products.
On another note, Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister said he understood the concern of the public on being desperate to be jabbed with the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible due to the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
He assured the public that the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) is working to roll out the vaccination as quickly as possible.
Khairy believed that PICK will accelerate in June 2021 with more supplies of Covid-19 vaccine from Sinovac, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
“It is understandable that states are proactive in trying to come up with their own programme.
“As far as the supplies (of Covid-19 vaccine) are concerned, the priority is given to the national programme,” he stressed. — DayakDaily
