PUTRAJAYA – The United Kingdom’s approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for general use gives Malaysia the opportunity to study its effectiveness and side effects before formally purchasing and using it here.
Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah said today's development of the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's approval of the Covid-19 vaccine offers Malaysia more time to look into the safety aspects of the vaccine, which has yet to be rolled out for mass immunisation.
“We will have time to observe the use of the vaccine among the UK people, both in terms of effectiveness and its side effects.
“If we see that the use of the vaccine is encouraging in the first three months there, perhaps it will encourage us to be more confident to use it as well,” he told his daily Covid-19 press conference here today.
Earlier today, it was reported that the UK became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine, paving the way for mass immunisation.
The UK has purchased 40 million doses of the vaccine, which has shown about 95% efficacy, with 800,000 of them to be rolled out next week for those most at risk.
Noor Hisham said that, unlike the UK, Malaysia’s laws do not provide the usage of any vaccine under emergency, and requires them to be registered under the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) before they can be used.
“We don’t have the exemption provided to certain countries to use a vaccine in emergency cases. We have to follow the process to register it, to ensure its safety and effectiveness.
“In any case, we are still waiting for results on the vaccine’s third-phase clinical test. We need these data before any decision can be made.
“Our agreement is that, to purchase the vaccine, it must be registered with the NPRA first,” he said. – The Vibes, November 2, 2020
