GEORGE TOWN: State governments are now free to buy their own Covid-19 vaccines, but not from pharmaceutical companies that are supplying the Federal Government.
National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin (pic) said “if states want to buy from other suppliers which are not supplying the Federal Government, go ahead – there is no restriction or monopoly.
“The Federal Government is only purchasing Pfizer, Sinovac and AstraZeneca but not other brands such as Moderna and Sinopharm, which have received approval from the World Health Organisation.
“If states want to take in those vaccines, sure, as long as they are registered with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
“If they want to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies, go ahead and we can facilitate it,” Khairy said today in an event.
A total of 3.28 million vaccine doses have been administered to the people in the 100 days since the launch of the immunisation programme.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister also pointed out that Malaysia can successfully accelerate the vaccination process and achieve at least 150,000 doses daily.
“As of yesterday, we have surpassed other countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam in terms of percentage of population who have received at least one dose.
“We recorded 105,655 doses administered yesterday, with 95,844 of those being for the first dose.
“I hope we can achieve at least 150,000 doses administered daily by this month and 200,000 per day by July,” Khairy added.
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