No placebos used in PICK Covid-19 vaccines: MoH

PUTRAJAYA – The Health Ministry has confirmed that no placebos are being used in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).

In a statement today, the ministry said that the claims made in a viral video that placebos were being used in PICK were not true.

It explained that placebos, which do not contain “active substances”, are used in clinical studies in which recipients are randomly divided into two groups, with one receiving the active substance and the other a placebo.

“This situation is only used during clinical trials, and not for registered products used in PICK,” said the ministry.

It further stressed that all pharmaceutical products, including vaccines approved by the Drug Control Authority (DCA), were produced through manufacturers that complied with international standards such as Good Manufacturing Practice, Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme, and World Health Organisation.

“Product quality monitoring is done throughout the manufacturing process, in which quality control tests are conducted on each batch before they are marketed. Registered products only contain active ingredients and excipients that have been certified by DCA for marketing, and not a placebo,” read the statement.

It added that the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency also evaluated manufacturing documents and conducted cold-chain inspections for each batch of Covid-19 vaccine products through a strict lot release process, to ensure the content and quality of vaccine products are guaranteed.

The ministry also questioned how the party in the video had obtained a sample of a Covid-19 vaccine and tested its contents, when in fact Covid-19 vaccines are only allowed to be sold and supplied to the government and government-authorised parties.

The ministry said it viewed the claims made in the video as fake news and an attempt to confuse the public and tarnish the integrity of the ministry, adding that it would be lodging reports with police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission over the matter. – Bernama, January 27, 2022