PUTRAJAYA – The government will sign a Covid-19 vaccine procurement contract with Johnson & Johnson soon, said Khairy Jamaluddin.
The science, technology and innovation minister said clinical information on the vaccine produced by the United States firm has been positive, and based on the recommendation of the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee, the cabinet has decided to buy the jab.
“We are still in the discussion process, and I understand that Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba will soon sign a contract for Malaysia to procure the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson,” he told a virtual press conference on the new Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force today.
“Only after that will we send the vaccine to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency for evaluation.
“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single-dose vaccine.”
On jabs that require two doses, he said: “We are following the suggestion by vaccine supplier Pfizer that the second dose be given 21 days after the first.
“We do not want to take the United Kingdom’s approach of extending the time for the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to one month, or nine to 12 weeks.”
Two-dose coronavirus vaccines are produced by companies including Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac and CanSinoBIO.
Besides the Johnson & Johnson jab, Russia’s Sputnik V is also a single-dose vaccine.
Malaysia is scheduled to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech jab on February 21, one week earlier than scheduled.
“I believe police and the armed forces will not only assist with the vaccines’ storage, but also their transport to various parts of the country,” said Khairy.
On the procurement of low dead-volume syringes, he said the government has secured enough to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
“Some of the deliveries have been made, and we’re hoping for more deliveries as we roll out the first phase.”
Dr Adham has said 12 million such syringes are needed to inject 20% of the country’s population, or six million people, in the first phase of the inoculation programme.
Asked about potential problems when the programme has been rolled out, Khairy said there could be logistical issues due to the scale of the initiative.
“We have to ensure the logistics is seamless, especially with the Pfizer vaccine having to be stored at -70°C to -80°C, so that there is no wastage.” – Bernama, February 17, 2021
