KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today vowed to use the full force of the law on those spreading misinformation about the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines produced here by Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd.

Khairy who is also the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) said the locally produced Sinovac is on par with those manufactured in China by Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Pharmaniaga Bhd is the exclusive distributor of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia.

Khairy said the additional procurement can address the need to ramp up the vaccination process for next month and added that Pharmaniaga currently has the capacity to "fill and finish” 500,000 doses a week.

"Why did they take from February until May to distribute the fill and finish products?

"That was because there was a need by the NPRA to undertake product process validation and stability testing that was used for final approval. That process took about 10 weeks to complete, where it has to pass multiple tests, submissions of data and reports that were needed by the NPRA,” he said during an online press conference.

The NPRA refers to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.

"Now this addresses the question that has been circulated on WhatsApp and social media platforms about the quality of fill finish product that Pharmaniaga is manufacturing.

"Because of the stringent process delegation that was required by the NPRA, and because of the continuous quality control testing as well as Lot Release inspections that are done by the NPRA, this means that the fill and finish product that comes out of Pharmaniaga’s plant in Puchong, is of the same quality as the Sinovac vaccines that we receive from the Sinovac factory in Beijing, China as finished product.

"Therefore I would like to completely deny and also completely refute the point saying that the fill finish product by Pharmaniaga is of an inferior quality to the finished product that comes from the Sinovac factory in Beijing, China.

"This allegation is most irresponsible, and if we find out who has been spreading this allegation, we will ensure the full force of the law comes down on that person,” Khairy said.

He added that production is proceeding according to schedule and expressed confidence that the Malaysian company will meet its contractual obligation in terms of the quantity and delivery timelines.