KUALA LUMPUR — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today said he is glad and relieved that China has placed Malaysia as the priority recipient of its Covid-19 vaccine.

In a press conference today, Muhyiddin said that Malaysia will be getting the vaccine before the end of the year.

"We are glad to know that we can get the vaccine before the end of the year, and our priority is to ensure that we sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China through our Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein,” he said.

Earlier today, Bernama reported that China has agreed to list Malaysia as a priority recipient of the China-produced Covid-19 vaccine once it is successfully developed.

Hishammuddin announced this in a joint news conference after the bilateral meeting with his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, here.

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said Malaysia will take a two-pronged approach, including the possibility of joining Covax Vaccination Plan co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) but at the same time conducting direct negotiations with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing countries.

"The problem with joining Covax is that we have to fork out a large amount of money before we can get a vaccine for our use, and that is a very tight situation.

"We are in talks with the manufacturers and the Health Ministry will ensure that the vaccine is delivered to us,” he said.