KUALA LUMPUR – The Drug Control Authority (DCA) has given conditional approval for three types of Covid-19 vaccines to be administered in the country.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told a press conference that the AstraZeneca, Sinovac and Cominarty jabs were approved following a DCA meeting today.
AstraZeneca Sdn Bhd, Pharmaniaga Lifescience Sdn Bhd and Pfizer (M) Sdn Bhd are the licence holders for each of the vaccines.
“The Health Ministry will continue to raise the level of public health in the fight against Covid-19 through the acquisition of vaccine supplies that have been evaluated in terms of their quality, safety and efficacy by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), and approved by DCA,” said Dr Noor Hisham.
“The government is also committed to ensuring adult Malaysians achieve herd immunity, in line with the targets of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.”
The AstraZeneca jab is manufactured by Medimmune Pharma B.V. in the Netherlands, while the Sinovac vaccine is produced by China’s Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd.
The Cominarty vaccine is produced by Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V. based in Puurs, Belgium, and BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH in Mainz, Germany.
Dr Noor Hisham said NPRA is also evaluating two other vaccine products, namely Gam-Covid-Vac, or Sputnik V, produced by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, and CoronaVac Suspension for Injection, produced by Sinovac and bottled by Pharmaniaga.
So far, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved and administered in Malaysia. Among the recipients are Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Dr Noor Hisham and frontliners. – The Vibes, March 2, 2021
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