PUTRAJAYA, June 21 — Malaysia is developing a vaccine to protect against Covid-19 using the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology.

Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, said in a joint press conference with National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, today that the Malaysian Institute for Medical Research (IMR) started developing it with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in November 2020.

"The original SARS-CoV-2 virus and variants are currently in the cloning stage,” he said.

He said that the development process involves testing in small and big animals (pre-clinical stage) first, then three phases of clinical trials in humans before vaccine registration and manufacturing can begin.

Further details coming soon. — Bernama