PENANG: Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow (pic) called on the director of the company that has recently said he wanted to donate 2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Penang to clear his name.
This call was made after the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, YB Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar today morning said that the company that pledged to donate 2 million doses of Sinovac vaccine to the Penang State was a ” scam” and “bogus” company .
“The serious allegations also oblige the company and the director nominated by the Minister to come forward to refute the relevant allegations,” Chow Kon Yeow said in a statement posted on his Facebook this afternoon, after being informed that the “vaccine donations” he has talked about recently was nothing more than a scam.
Chow Kon Yeow is now asking the man who claimed donation of the vaccine to come forward and clear his name.
On March 12, 2021, the Health of Ministry (MOH) rejected the offer and the Penang State Government was unable to follow up further on the company’s pledge, the Chief Minister said.
MOH said it was not necessary to consider the contribution of the vaccine because the Federal Government has already designed and implemented the National COVID-19 Immunization Program. Therefore, Penang State Government could not follow up on this matter because it was not able to submit a MOH certificate to the company to enable them to continue negotiations with the vaccine manufacturer.
The vaccine offer was raised again on 18 May 2021 when Chow Kon Yeow questioned why the MOH could not give a certificate to the Penang State Government based on a reply letter from the MOH Secretary General while Sarawak and Selangor reportedly bought the vaccine for their respective states.
“As Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has made serious allegations, the State Government hereby requests the company to provide an explanation and show relevant evidence in order to clear their name and image,” he said in the statement. -Malaysia World News
