KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has asked the government how soon we can expect to see Malaysia having its own vaccine-producing facilities.
“Why aren’t local universities and medical research institutions at the forefront of vaccine development?” he said in a statement.
“We have produced antidotes for the Nipah virus among others, which proves we too have the capabilities to research and develop vaccines.
“Hence, it is timely to ask the government on how soon we can expect to see our own vaccine producing facilities.”
The PKR president said that the government was also yet to address the “lack of transparency” in the purchase and roll out of the vaccines, as RM3 billion in taxpayers’ money is being spent on various vaccines.
“What are the parameters being used in the decision-making process to secure various vaccines?” he asked.
“For instance, why did we not consider the Russian Sputnik vaccine earlier, which is marginally cheaper and according to reports is more effective.
“It is only now that the government has announced a purchase of the Sputnik vaccines,” the veteran politican said, adding that the government required vaccine producers to share their knowledge upon signing deals with Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the PKR president also took to task the government’s management and organisation of the registration process for Covid-19 vaccination which he said could have been better.
Anwar’s comments come after National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin revealed that the 1.4 million people who registered for vaccination through contact tracing app MySejahtera have done so in an incomplete manner.
“We have also heard of problems whereby individuals have had to register several times before their registration is confirmed,” he added.
“Pertinent issues need to be addressed such as, ‘Why aren’t more Malaysians registering for the vaccine?’ and ‘Is it due to the complexities in the MySejahtera app?’.”
Anwar also asked the government on what it was doing to address issues surrounding the vaccine registration, as well as how it plans to convince anti-vaxxers to be inoculated since it was a voluntary move.
“Is there enough being done to allay public fears associated with the vaccine?” he asked. – The Vibes, March 15, 2021
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