PUTRAJAYA, Dec 2 — Malaysia will closely monitor the deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom, following reports of Pfizer-BioNTech’s approval for its vaccine to be used among the public and healthcare workers there by next week.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry intends to monitor the developing situation there, to determine the vaccine's effectiveness and the emergency of any potential side-effects.

"We will have plenty of time to see how things work out there. If within the first three months its usage in the UK is stimulating with less documented side-effects, it may encourage our confidence in using it as well," he said during his press conference.

Dr Noor Hisham said that although the vaccine will soon be in use, it does not mean it is registered with the UK’s Medicine and Healthcare Regulatory Agency.

“This means they can use the vaccine under a state of emergency, but it is not yet recognised. I believe they are the first nation in the world to do so.

“Some other countries may also choose the use the vaccine under emergencies, and similarly this would mean they have not registered it yet with their relevant regulatory bodies,” he said.

In Malaysia’s case, there are no exceptions for using vaccines during a state of emergency, as Dr Noor Hisham said any vaccine or pharmaceutical product must go through the registration process with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency as per legislative requirements.

“On our part, we must ensure a vaccine’s safety and efficacy before it can be used on the public. So we will observe the potential side-effects in other countries while we await the registration process to be completed here.

“The company will send a dossier to the ministry, and we will analyse the safety, efficacy, and quality via the NPRA from there. Things are still in the early stages, and I am sure other countries themselves may be concerned about the potential side effects,” he said.

The director-general was firm in his stance that Malaysia will wait for the results of the vaccine’s third-phase clinical trials, before making any decision.

The coronavirus vaccine, a joint effort between American multinational pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech, was approved for use earlier today by the UK authorities.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock was reported to have said the first 800,000 doses will be made available by next week. An estimated 40 million doses sufficient to vaccinate 20 million people have already been ordered.

Pfizer and BioNTech have also offered to sell 12.8 million doses of the vaccine to Malaysia, which is expected to cost Putrajaya around US$249.6 million (RM1 billion). The government has said RM3 billion has already been set aside solely for this purpose.

Yesterday, Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Pfizer will ship and directly deliver its vaccine to Malaysia by next year. He added the delivery of the 12.8 million doses will be staggered throughout 2021 instead of being delivered altogether at once.