KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya has communicated with 10 Covid-19 vaccine producers, following a notification by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that there were 11 vaccine candidates in Phase 3 clinical trials as of November 13.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said communications with eight producers were undertaken directly, while they went through the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (Covax) for the other two.
He said some of the discussions are in the final stage, and an official announcement will be made when everything has been finalised.
“The discussion covers aspects of cooperation in various stages of vaccine development, such as R&D, exchange of scientists, and fill-and-finish development – transfer of technology, logistics and cold chain – including the purchase of vaccines as a guarantee of access to supply for the country,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to a question by Chan Foong Hin (PH-Kota Kinabalu) on whether the ministry has placed orders from companies from China, such as Cansino, Sinovac and Sinopharm, or the UK, like AstraZeneca, and whether the ministry will set the order of priority for vaccination, as is being done in Indonesia.
Khairy said through participation in Covax, Malaysia will have access to enough vaccines for 10% of the country’s population, adding that the government is working to get another 60% to meet the national immunisation target for herd immunity.
On priority for immunisation, he said the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access, set up on October 14, has agreed to have three groups.
The first is for frontliners, followed by high-risk individuals, like people with comorbidities and senior citizens. The third is the general adult population. – Bernama, November 16, 2020
