KJ under fire after Pfizer vaccine prices revealed

KUALA LUMPUR – Khairy Jamaluddin faced a barrage of questions on Twitter today, as netizens pressed on whether Malaysia is overpaying for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

This came after the Guardian yesterday reported that Belgium’s state secretary Eva De Bleeker had accidentally posted on her Twitter the prices of six different vaccines her country was purchasing, with Pfizer-BioNTech’s said to cost €12 – approximately RM59. 

In total, Belgium would be spending roughly RM1.38 billion for 33.5 billion doses of vaccines of six variants. 

This has led many Malaysians, including DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, to question why the country needs to pay RM3 billion for the procurement of Pfizer vaccines for just 20% of the population, or about 6.4 million individuals. 

Khairy, who is Science, Technology and Innovation minister, dismissed such claims as incorrect, adding that it is irresponsible to spread misinformation. 

He said that the RM3 billion allocation would instead cover immunisation for 70% of Malaysia’s population, which makes up roughly 22 million people, and not just the 20% from Pfizer. 

He added that this matter has been addressed in the Dewan Rakyat. 

Many are still unimpressed by his response, saying that this still meant Malaysia would be overpaying for the vaccine, with Belgium paying much less for a higher number of doses. 

To this, Khairy said: “Most vaccines in development need two doses per person. So for 70% population coverage, we actually need 50 million doses.”

He added that the RM3 billion allocation is just an estimate, and that Malaysia is still negotiating with vaccine makers. 

In a comment telling the minister not to use the non-disclosure agreement to keep details of vaccine procurements from the public, Khairy said if he is to violate it, vaccine manufacturers may cancel their agreements with Malaysia. 

“And then we get no vaccines. The prime minister will make an announcement soon about our portfolio of vaccines, its population coverage and overall price. But we cannot disclose each deal.” 

He added that once this announcement is made, Khairy will brief all MPs on the details, as well as the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee. – The Vibes, December 21, 2020