KUALA LUMPUR – The purchase of Covid-19 Sinovac vaccines does not have to be via a single company, said opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
After speaking to a contact in China, he said the prices of the vaccines could be lower and that the acquisition did not have to go through only one company.
“On this, I am baffled because, firstly, other people are prevented from buying (vaccines). Secondly, it (vaccination programme) is sluggish. And thirdly, on the question of prices, that is why it (the government) has kept it secret from early on,” he said in a video posted on his Facebook page.
He added that if the government wanted to look after the interest of the people, this is not the time to allow a monopoly by Pharmaniaga Bhd, the sole Malaysian company appointed to bottle the Chinese-made Covid-19 Sinovac vaccine in the country.
He also urged the government to open up opportunities for the private sector to purchase Covid-19 vaccines if it does not have the capacity to roll out wide-scale immunisation to the people.
“In the private sector, which has profited billions, their staff and workers in the fields and factories number in the tens of thousands; let them pay (for the jabs).
“Why must the government prevent them from doing so? What is the importance of this? Why do they want to control this? Open up space and give as many opportunities as possible to get the vaccines.”
Anwar, who is also PKR president, said this in response to requests from states and the private sector to procure Covid-19 vaccines.
He added that the government can save money if it allows the private sector to take part in the immunisation effort.
“But (the government) wants to control everything. It is greedy for power and wants to show that it is powerful. And in the end, what is wrong with Penang wanting to acquire two million (doses)?”
Anwar said millions of Malaysian are still awaiting their shots and that the country would be in a better position if more people were vaccinated.
“Why is this so? It is because the government does not have a post-Covid strategy.”
Yesterday, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had dismissed as bogus an offer by a private company to supply two million Covid-19 vaccine doses to the Penang government.
Responding to claims by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng yesterday, Khairy confirmed that his ministry received a copy of a letter from Hong Kong-based Xintai Development Enterprise managing director Yong Chee Kong, from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, to Chow on February 1.
“The letter requesting approval for the purchase of the Sinovac vaccine was investigated by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) with the vaccine producers themselves.
“At the time, Sinovac was not yet approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
“Despite this, we investigated the contents of the letter with the producers Sinovac Biotech, and confirmed that no such transaction had taken place with the person or the company as contained in the letter,” he had told a press conference.
Among the contents of the letter, he said, it is stated that Yong will give a donation in the form of two million vaccine doses to the Penang government.
“In the letter, the individual stated that he will deposit US$2 million (RM8.26 million) to Sinovac Biotech via his personal HSBC account in Hong Kong if the Penang government approves of the donation.
“The letter also refers to dealings with a Sinovac Biotech sales manager named Ms Coco Chang.”
However, the probe conducted with Sinovac revealed that no such transaction had taken place, he said. – The Vibes, May 20, 2021
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