KUALA LUMPUR – The government has decided to increase the National Trust Fund allocation to RM6 billion from RM5 billion previously to ensure a sufficient supply of vaccines, including booster doses, for both adults and teenagers.
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said based on the current assessment, it is critical that everyone be given a booster dose, especially with the emergence of the Omicron variant.
“To safeguard the people’s well-being, the government will act proactively and continue to monitor the situation from time to time,” he said during his winding-up speech for Supply Bill 2022 (Budget 2022) in Dewan Negara today.
Responding to Senator Lim Hui Ying’s conjecture of a lack of transparency in the Covid-19 vaccine purchase and use of the National Trust Fund, Tengku Zafrul clarified that he had previously announced during the tabling of Budget 2021 that it would cost more than RM3 billion to procure the Covid-19 vaccines required for Malaysians.
”However, given that the supply volume and prices had not been finalised by the vaccine suppliers at the time, no specific allocation was made under the RM322.5 billion Budget 2021,” he explained.
Only by March 2021, which was after the government conducted negotiations for the vaccine supply for up to 120% of the Malaysian population, did the government decide RM5 billion was needed for vaccine supply procurement and other expenses related to the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK), the minister said.
To expedite PICK so that it can be completed by this month, the government decided to finance the PICK expenditure of RM5 billion by tapping the National Trust Fund, he said.
“Using the resources dedicated to PICK’s implementation, Malaysia was recognised as having among the fastest vaccination rates in the world. To date, more than 97% of the adult population have been fully vaccinated and this has reduced the number of Covid-19 cases as well as the intensive care unit utilisation rate, which is now below 60%,” he said.
He added that these achievements allowed for nearly all the states in the country to transition to the fourth phase of the National Recovery Plan. – Bernama, December 21, 2021
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