KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin today said that he is ready to share details on Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccine purchases with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
However, Khairy said that anything that he shares with PAC will be subject to non-disclosure and confidentiality clauses set by major pharmaceutical firms supplying the vaccines.
“I am willing to share information on the vaccine purchases but none of the information can leave the meeting room as we are bound by non-disclosure agreements with the pharmaceutical companies,” he said during a press conference today.
Khairy added that breaching the confidentiality clause would jeopardise the agreement with the manufacturers.
“For the time being, all governments are subject to the condition of secrecy. We cannot give the price details for each vaccine producer,” he said.
“It is their condition, not ours,” he said.
Yesterday, Putrajaya disclosed that it has secured vaccine coverage for another 10 per cent of the population and was on track to procure enough doses to vaccinate over 80 per cent of Malaysia at an estimated cost of RM2.05 billion.
AstraZeneca also said it will supply 6.4 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to Malaysia next year without profit.
This comes amid rumours that Putrajaya was overpaying for its own batch of vaccines, following Belgium's Budget State Secretary Eva De Bleeker's revelation of vaccine prices.
DAP MP Lim Kit Siang was among those who made such a claim, urging PAC to brief MPs from both sides over the deals.
