I’ll apologise if I’m wrong, says Guan Eng over Penang’s failed bid for jabs

GEORGETOWN – DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng says he is willing to apologise if the offer for two million Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine doses to Penangites is proven to be “bogus” and a “scam”, as claimed by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“If what Khairy said is true, then I am willing to apologise so that we can focus on the importance of securing vaccines for the rakyat through a whole of government or country effort,” said Lim.

However, the Bagan MP said whether the company exists or not is a secondary issue as this should not be a distraction from the two principal issues of the federal government granting immediate approval to all state governments to purchase vaccines or secure vaccine donations.

“It is not wrong to seek vaccines at the earliest possible time for the rakyat to protect them by every legal means possible.”

Lim said in the face of a record surge of Covid-19 daily infections to 6,075 cases yesterday, the public is crying out urgently for vaccines to protect them from Covid-19 and its vicious variants. 

“Some in the private sector are so desperate that they are willing to pool resources to purchase the vaccines overseas but are told that such purchases must be approved by the government and transacted through a government intermediary. 

“This appears to be confirmed by National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin,” he said.

The Penang state government has declared its willingness to be this intermediary to provide free vaccines to frontliners and high-risk groups as well as to those able to afford the vaccines. 

“Why should there be a monopoly of the vaccines by one company when decentralisation can increase the vaccination rate? 

“It is more sensible to allow those who can afford to pay, to purchase vaccines at their own cost because this will make more vaccines available to be given free to others.”

Lim said in response to the appeals from Penangites, after Sarawak and Selangor were able to procure these vaccines, the Penang government is open to purchasing these vaccines as well as receive donations from any interested parties. 

However, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow disclosed that the state government’s request to accept vaccine donations was officially rejected by the Health Ministry on March 12. 

Chow also mentioned that the state government’s earlier request to purchase the vaccines was not entertained.

So far, Khairy did not explicitly state that Putrajaya would approve the Penang government’s request to accept vaccine donations or to purchase the vaccines. 

“Perhaps Khairy is unable to speak on behalf of the Health Ministry that rejected the offer of vaccine donation(s). 

“Instead, Khairy said that the offer of 2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to the Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow was from a company that did not exist,” Lim added.

Chow disputed Khairy’s accusations saying that when the Health Ministry rejected the offer to donate vaccines, nothing was mentioned about the status of the company that it was a bogus firm. 

Instead, Chow revealed that Health Ministry secretary-general Mohd Shafiq Abdullah replied on March 12 that it was unnecessary to consider contributors of vaccines, as the federal government had planned and implemented the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. 

The Penang government is currently verifying Khairy’s allegations. – The Vibes, May 20, 2021