KUALA LUMPUR – The government has spent an estimated RM2.8 billion from the RM5 billion allocated for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Program (PICK) as of August 20.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba (Tenggara-BN) said from the amount, RM2.6 billion or 92% of the expenditure has been used for the purchase and logistics of Covid-19 vaccines.
“Another RM210 million was utilised for the outsourcing of the immunisation programme to private medical practitioners, and the cost of the Health Ministry’s PICK assets, amounting to RM19 million.
“The cost for consumables came up to RM11 million while vaccine education materials, including vaccination cards and permission forms, cost RM1.9 million.
“The cost of managing the implementation of Covid-19 vaccination amounted to RM1.3 million, while the cost of post-immunisation surveillance and upgrading of the Health Ministry’s system is RM443,000,” he said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Dr Adham was responding to an additional question from Yeo Bee Yin (Bakri-PH), on the total amount spent on PICK from the RM5 billion allocation. – The Vibes, September 30, 2021