Offer of 2mil Sinovac doses to Penang is a ‘scam’, says Minister Kahiry. Pic:MWN

PETALING JAYA: The offer of two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine to the Penang state is a “scam” and “bogus”, National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.

Khairy Jamaluddin said the pledge by a “donor” and Hong Kong-based company was a bogus.

The Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) said that channel checks with Sinovac found that no contact had been made as alleged by the supposed donor, Hong Kong-based Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd.

A company search also found that Xintai Development Enterprise did not exist as it was not registered in Hong Kong, the minister said.

The Ministry has made investigations on the existence of the private company that made the offer of 2million doses Sinovac Vaccine to Penang Government, and it found out it was only a bogus and a scam, he said in a virtual press conference today.`

Referring to the claim made by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow yesterday, Khairy said that after investigating the matter, they found out there is no evidence of any donor, nor does the purported company exist.

Khairy was responding to an allegation that claimed the federal government had blocked the offer to the Penang state government, which it received via a letter on Feb 1 from one Yong Chee Kong with an address in Kota Kinabalu, The EdgeMarket reported.

“The offer is bogus. It is completely untrue. We checked with Sinovac and they have no dealings with the company. We checked with company records in Hong Kong, and the company does not exist. No one even knows who Yong Chee Kong is.”

In another development, yesterday (May 18), Khairy has also rejected an offer by the private company Perta Group to donate 200,000 Sinovac vaccines for free to Malaysians.

“The CITF (Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force) takes note of Yayasan Sekhar’s intention to contribute the Sinovac-type vaccine supply for the NIP. However, after checking with Sinovac in China and Pharmaniaga which is the licence holder for the Sinovac vaccines in Malaysia, there is no request, purchases, or official documents regarding this matter provided by Yayasan Sekhar,” said the coordinating minister Khairy.

“The CITF would like to state that there are no obstacles should Yayasan Sekhar, or any other parties, want to continue this noble intention, but this must be acted upon through designated channels,” he added.

The Minister also reminded all parties that the Federal Government is not blocking any opposition party from procuring or selling or donating the Chinese vaccines ( Sinovac) to their states, but the supplies to the federal government must be prioritized first.

Khairy, who seems to be very disturbed and angry with the opposition parties` claims that the government is blocking them from donating or bringing the Chinese vaccine to their states in Penang and other opposition controlled-states, said the vaccines supplies is under government’ s control, adding that the Federal Government has already ordered the same vaccines from China and the supply is still pending – Suppliers have to prioritize the Federal Government of Malaysia first, not the States Governments.

The Minister reiterated, based on the agreement between the Federal Government and the vaccine manufacturers, the vaccine supplies that have already been booked must and need to be prioritised to the federal government for the NIP.

He also said that the State Governments are allowed to procure their own vaccine supplies, but only after the federal government got their orders first.

The State Governments, which are under the opposition parties, also have to obtain approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), Khary added.- Malaysia World News