KUALA LUMPUR – While commending the government for its Covid-19 vaccine purchase agreement with Pfizer, a think-tank said the Budget 2021 allocation for the Health Ministry should be reviewed, especially with regard to the doses’ logistical and storage requirements.
Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib, in a statement today, said the vaccines will need to be stored at -70°C, which is beyond the capability of most of Malaysia’s primary healthcare facilities.
Suitable storage units at the state level will need to be used to ensure the vaccines’ “cold chain” is uninterrupted, he said.
“We need to ensure that the ministry gets the necessary funds and manpower to hit the ground running when the vaccines become available in 2021, especially since they have specific logistical and storage requirements that call for investing in the necessary infrastructure and training.
“Are we going to acquire Pfizer’s special ice boxes? Have we allocated for the record-keeping system needed? As it stands, we do not believe that the existing allocations are adequate for this purpose.”
On Tuesday, Putrajaya signed a preliminary purchase agreement with Pfizer to obtain 12.8 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, to meet the immunisation needs of 20% of the population, or 6.4 million Malaysians.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the pharmaceutical giant has pledged to deliver a million doses, 1.7 million doses, 5.8 million doses and 4.3 million doses in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2021, respectively.
Azrul foresees challenges in the process to deliver vaccines to rural areas.
Distributing vaccines from the manufacturer to the actual inoculation sites can be highly challenging, especially when it involves messenger RNA vaccines, he said. – Bernama, November 28, 2020
