KUALA LUMPUR – The Pakatan Harapan immunisation task force is demanding that Putrajaya explain the impact of the European Union’s decision to restrict the export of Covid-19 vaccines.
The task force, in a statement, said the EU’s decision will inevitably affect Malaysia’s coronavirus vaccination programme, given that the country is not included in the list of over 120 nations exempted from the restrictions.
It is understood that the bloc’s initial export controls will affect the roll-out of the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines from January 30 to March 31.
Malaysia’s Pfizer vaccine supply comes from the company’s manufacturing plant in Belgium.
“The Malaysian government must explain to the people its potential impact on our vaccine roll-out, especially since the country was initially expecting the first shipment of 144,000 Pfizer doses scheduled to be delivered this month, with the national Covid-19 vaccination programme targeted to start this month as well,” said the task force.
It also pointed out that Malaysia is expecting the delivery of 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines in early April, targeted at the elderly and other high-risk groups.
While the country will also get vaccines from China’s Sinovac, the jab has yet to receive approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
“Sinovac’s coronavirus vaccine has also produced mixed efficacy results in various clinical trials, showing only 50.4% effectiveness in a late-stage trial in Brazil,” said the task force.
It slammed the EU for the bloc’s decision to restrict vaccine exports, as this could lead to the “potential rise of vaccine nationalism in vaccine-producing countries”.
It urged the bloc to respect developing countries’ right to access Covid-19 vaccines, saying the sanctity of agreements must be respected.
“In times of a global pandemic, all countries must work together to resolve (the issue of) vaccine shortage in the spirit of the brotherhood of humanity, equal opportunities, and sanctity of agreements.”
The EU last week introduced a mechanism on Covid-19 vaccine exports. Before issuing permits for such exports, member countries must verify with the European Commission that a pharmaceutical company that has signed an advanced purchase agreement with the EU has delivered the promised doses. – AFP, February 2, 2021
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