KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has questioned the government’s ability in fulfilling its vaccination roll-out according to schedule after, so far, failing to hit its target.
The opposition leader in a Facebook Live stream said the government is lagging behind its initial projection of administering close to six million doses of vaccine by now.
This is based on the statement by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in January that 75,000 people will get the Covid-19 jab each day from March, when the national immunisation programme kicks off.
However, Anwar said, based on current figures, only about 2.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered, with a little over 850,000 individuals fully vaccinated.
“This is a shortage of about 3.6 million compared with the projection. At this rate, we can never achieve our target unless there is an immediate spike in vaccination.”
Previously, Khairy had said the country aims to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating 80% of its population by February next year, at the latest.
The PKR president pointed out that the shot supply into the country has also fallen short of the government’s target.
According to the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry’s projection, Malaysia should have received eight million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this month.
However, Anwar said only 4.48 million doses have been delivered.
The Port Dickson MP said while there is truth in the government’s claim that Western and rich countries are hogging vaccine supplies, this does not explain the slow delivery to Malaysia.
Even compared with neighbouring countries in the region, the percentage of vaccine doses being delivered here is very low, he added.
He pointed out that Malaysia has received only a million doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine, which makes up less than 7% of the overall 15 million doses procured.
Comparatively, Thailand has received about 59% (4.5 million) out of its 7.6 million Sinovac doses, while Indonesia has received about 48% (67 million) out of its 140 million doses.
“Why is the situation so bad in Malaysia? Is our prime minister too busy that he cannot even give China a call to ask for additional vaccine?” asked Anwar.
Similarly, he said, the 10,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine – also from China – have yet to be delivered despite a procurement announcement in March.
“The vaccine should have been delivered this month, but until now it (Sinopharm) has not been approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
“Now, the minister (Khairy) is saying anyone can order the vaccine, but how to order when even approval has not been given?” – The Vibes, May 22, 2021
