KUALA LUMPUR – Amid a successful start of the AstraZeneca opt-in vaccination drive today, National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has warned that Phase 3 of the inoculation exercise may be held back due to a supply shortage.
Phase 3, which is supposed to begin this month, may be affected due to an inadequate supply of Covid-19 vaccines worldwide, he said.
“Phase 3 is supposed to start this month, but I don’t know if we will have enough (Covid-19 vaccine) supplies. We need to make an announcement on that (later).
“Of course, as a developing country, we are extremely dissatisfied with the distribution of vaccines around the world,” he was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.
The issue has been highlighted by developing countries, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres and World Health Organisation chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the minister said during a press conference at the World Trade Centre here.
“They said the vaccine roll-out in the first half of this year is inequitable and unethical.”
Khairy said the setback could change from next month, as richer countries will have finished their immunisation programmes.
“I am not pushing the blame on anyone, just trying to manage expectations here in Malaysia. It’s not that they (the vaccines) are sitting in a freezer here in Kuala Lumpur, they have not arrived yet.
“It’s like a scene from Titanic, where people from the lower floors are waiting for lifeboats, but those from the upper cabin have already boarded them.”
On February 17, Guterres said progress on vaccinations has been wildly uneven and unfair, with only 10 countries having administered 75% of all vaccines and more than 130 countries have not received a single dose.
Fair, equitable vaccine distribution is essential to building trust, maintaining international peace and preventing violence, he added.
Just as efforts to ensure all countries can access vaccines, he said, “we also need to make sure those vaccines reach the arms of all the people who need them”. – The Vibes, May 5, 2021
