KUALA LUMPUR – It is untrue that all vaccine procurement has to go through Pharmaniaga Bhd, said Khairy Jamaluddin following such claims.
“Accusations made by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that all vaccine procurement has to go through Pharmaniaga are untrue,” said the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister in a video released in response to the PKR president’s remarks.
“The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are procured via Pfizer Malaysia, while the AstraZeneca vaccines are (procured) via the Covax facility and AstraZeneca Malaysia. Pharmaniaga is only responsible for the procurement of Sinovac vaccines.
“I have also informed the Penang chief minister that the federal government will not block any valid Covid-19 vaccine donation or procurement.”
He said parties interested in bringing the Sinopharm jab into Malaysia can do so via the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), provided that they have the capability and clinical data.
This is because for every vaccine, there must be a local registration product holder that applies for NPRA approval, he said.
Anwar has slammed the government over vaccine procurement prices, among others.
Khairy said he has presented details of the vaccine procurement contracts to the Public Accounts Committee.
“If Datuk Seri (Anwar) has communicated with friends from China, with details, you can send it to the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee for verification.”
Anwar also said the purchase of Sinovac vaccines does not have to be via a single company.
After speaking to a contact in China, he said vaccine prices could be lower, and that the acquisition need not necessarily go through only one firm.
“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 yesterday.
He said if the government wants to look after the people’s interests, now is not the time to allow a monopoly by Pharmaniaga, 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 buy Covid-19 vaccines if it does not have the capacity to roll out wide-scale immunisation.
“In the private sector, which has profited in the 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’s comments are in response to requests from states and the private sector to procure Covid-19 vaccines.
“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)?”
Millions of Malaysians are still awaiting their shots, he said, and the country will be in a better position if more people are vaccinated. – The Vibes, May 21, 2021
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