KUCHING, Jan 13: The government has outlined ceiling prices for the commercial sales of Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines.
For Sinovac, the wholesale ceiling price is RM62 per dose while the retail ceiling price is RM77 per dose.
As for Sinopharm, the wholesale ceiling price is RM49 per dose while the retail ceiling price is RM61 per dose.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in a joint statement today said the ceiling price would be in force from Jan 15 under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 and enforced by the Health Ministry’s Pharmaceutical Enforcement Division.
They explained that the ceiling price was determined based on the cost of importing the vaccines and their current market value.
However, they explained that the retail ceiling price of the vaccines would not include services charge and charges for disposable items used to administer the vaccines.
They added the price and list of Covid-19 vaccines will be continuously scrutinised for improvement or dropped based on market demands.
“Every health facility which obtained approval from the government to offer privately purchased vaccination are required to display the selling price for reference.
“With that, the public can make comparison and get the Covid-19 vaccine at a reasonable price according to their choice,” they said.
Nanta and Khairy stressed that individuals who committed the offence of selling the vaccines above the ceiling price could face a fine of up to RM100,000 or imprisonment of not more than three years or both or be issued with compound notices of up to RM50,000.
For companies found violating the law, they could incur a fine of up to RM500,000 or be issued with compound notices of up to RM250,000.
At the same time, Nanta and Khairy said the government has prepared channels to help the public to lodge complaints over vaccine prices.
The public may make a complaint through the Health Ministry’s Public Complaints Management System (SISPAA) at https://moh.spab.gov.my. — DayakDaily
