KUCHING, April 28: The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) should clarify whether the extension of the expiry date of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines would affect their potency and safety of usage.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii viewed that the explanation by the Sarawak State Health Department (JKNS) director Dr Ooi Choo Huck on the said extension was insufficient.
He also said the clarification should have come earlier so the public is aware of the decisions they are making.
“This is an issue I have been raising up even in the Parliament session to the Ministry of Health (MOH) including the extension of expiry date for Sinovac and CanSino (vaccines) to up to six months, but have yet to get a clear answer from them until now.
“This, of course, raises certain concerns on the public taking what they perceived as expired vaccines.
“This of course would cause hesitancy among the public including here in Sarawak as the reason to how this decision was made (by NPRA) was not properly explained,” said Dr Yii in a statement today.
On April 24, Dr Ooi issued a statement explaining that the expired Pfizer vaccines being administered in a viral video on social media was safe and effective as the batch of vaccine’s shelf life had been extended for another three months.
He said the extension of expiry date of the vaccine batch FK9414 from the original Feb 28, 2022 to May 31, 2022 was approved and authorised by NPRA. — DayakDaily
