Khairy: Govt still considering other vaccines in third-stage trial, inoculation priority list to be announced later

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Putrajaya is still considering several other Covid-19 vaccines which are in their third-stage trial, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told Parliament today.

He said that the priority list on who gets inoculated first would also be announced later.

“For your information, the government through the Ministry of Health Malaysia has signed an initial purchase agreement with Pfizer on November 24, 2020. The selection of this vaccine was based on the interim report of the clinical trial and that is published in The New England Journal of Medicine on December 10, 2020 which showed that the vaccine was found to have a 95 per ent effectiveness in preventing Covid-19 infection and the government also had access to data to assess its quality, safety and level of effectiveness,” he said.

Khairy added that the vaccine also obtained the Emergency Use Authorisation from seven countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Singapore.

However, he said that the decision to use the vaccine in Malaysia is still subject to registration and approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA) of the Ministry of Health (MOH).

He said the process has begun and all data supplied by Pfizer will be scrutinized by the NPRA, adding that the supply of Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer is expected to be received in the first quarter of 2021 covering 12.8 million doses to meet the immunisation needs of 20 per cent or 6.4 million Malaysians.

“The Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Special Committee (JKJAV) has been established with the objective of ensuring that the supply of Covid-19 vaccine is obtained promptly, safely and perfectly. JKJAV aims to prepare the framework and procurement plan and distribution of Covid-19 vaccine when it is approved for use in Malaysia.

“Apart from the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer, Malaysia has also joined the Covax facility which guarantees access to the vaccine supply of 10 per cent of the country’s population. The JKJAV Committee is currently considering other vaccine candidates who are in phase three of clinical trials, for use in Malaysia. An announcement on this as well as a list of priorities for who will receive the vaccine first will be announced in the near future,” he said.

Khairy was responding to a question from Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, who had asked him about the cost, effectiveness and population coverage for the Pfizer vaccine, especially the immunity period, and when inoculation would take place, as well as medical assurance on the negative side effects, to give confidence to the people to receive two doses safely.

Lim also asked why Pfizer was chosen and not Covid-19 vaccines from other companies, and if there had been a cost and effectiveness comparison done.

On November 27, Khairy said that the government is working to secure Covid-19 vaccine doses for an initial target of 70 per cent of Malaysia’s population to achieve herd immunity, with 20 per cent already secured through a deal with Pfizer and 10 per cent also secured through a US$22,656,200 (about RM92.3 million) payment by Malaysia.