PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia will receive its first 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in June, said National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said he has received the delivery schedule from AstraZeneca Malaysia today, and the vaccines will be arriving from AstraZeneca’s contract manufacturing plant in Thailand.
“I have the confirmation that (this) delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines (is not part of the Covax facility)... this is a direct procurement,” he said after launching the corporate collaboration for the immunisation programme here today.
On whether India’s vaccine export ban will affect the delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines through Covax to Malaysia, Khairy said it should not be the case as Malaysia’s AstraZeneca supply from the Covax facility is coming from the manufacturer SK Bioscience in South Korea, and not from Serum Institute of India (SII).
“Unless there is something with the supply chain that we need to look into, as far as I know, it shouldn’t affect us,” he said.
It was reported that India has put a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine made by SII to meet its domestic demand as infections rise.
The move also affects supplies to the World Health Organisation-backed Covax vaccine-sharing facility.
On reports that some Bangi residents are reluctant to register for the Covid-19 vaccination because they are unable to choose which type of vaccine they can receive over concerns about adverse effects, Khairy said the wait-and-see approach would be resolved once more people are vaccinated and the inoculations are proved to be safe and effective.
“Those who are reluctant will be more willing to come forward to register and receive vaccines once it is clearly demonstrated,” he said.
He said that more volunteers would be trained under the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) so that they have the data and information to explain the safety aspects of the vaccines to the public.
“For now, I don’t think we should force or set a deadline. We should continue engagement and communication with the public.” – Bernama, March 31, 2021
