KUALA LUMPUR – CanSino’s Covid-19 vaccine will reach Malaysia by the end of July, while the Covax facility has yet to provide a delivery date for the Johnson & Johnson jab.
National immunisation programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin in a press conference today said the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) is still in the process of evaluating Russia’s Sputnik V following a June 1 agreement signed with Duopharma Biotech Bhd.
He said Duopharma is given three months from the date that the agreement was inked to register the vaccine with NPRA.
“I was made to understand that there is some information on its stability required by NPRA before we make any decisions on approving its use. NPRA has also agreed to simplify its process if the Sputnik vaccine is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for emergency use (Emergency Use Listing).”
Sputnik V, developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, has been registered in 68 countries.
On the CanSino jab, Khairy said the government is in the midst of finalising the delivery schedule, but he is confident that distribution can begin at the end of next month.
“We have yet to receive feedback from the Covax facility on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. But we have exercised our option in Covax, and are still waiting for a reply on the delivery (date).”
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said 444,600 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be delivered this week, adding to the 4,078,620 already received.
It said 760,880 Sinovac doses will be distributed starting today, out of the total of 3,687,880 in the country, and that 828,000 AstraZeneca shots have been delivered thus far.
On June 15, the Drug Control Authority approved the Covid-19 vaccines produced by Johnson & Johnson and CanSino for emergency use.
The agency also gave the nod for the Pfizer-BioNTech jab to be used on children aged 12 and above under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.
In a statement, Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, called Janssen, will be procured via the Covax facility headed by WHO.
Both the Johnson & Johnson and CanSino vaccines are single-dose jabs and have received Emergency Use Listing.
The Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac and AstraZeneca jabs currently deployed in Malaysia are a two-dose regimen.
“Despite the approval given to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use on those aged 12 and above, the Health Ministry will still prioritise high-risk groups for vaccination under existing national immunisation programme policies,” said Dr Noor Hisham. – The Vibes, June 21, 2021
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