The government has just signed an agreement with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for the procurement of an additional 10 percent or 6.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced.
He said this meant that the government had secured a 40 percent guarantee of vaccine supply through joint agreements with Covax, Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
The government previously signed preliminary agreements with Covax and Pfizer for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccine to secure a supply for 30 percent of the population.
“The government is also in final negotiations with Sinovac, CanSino and Gamaleya to secure a vaccine supply increase of more than 80 percent or 26.5 million of the country’s total population,” he said in a video on the recent development of Covid-19 vaccine for Malaysians today.
The 80 percent supply exceeds the government’s initial target to provide vaccines to 70 percent of Malaysians.
The prime minister added that through all the negotiations and agreements that have been and will be signed, the government will spend a total of US$504.4 million (RM2.05 billion).
Elaborating, Muhyiddin said the agreements with Sinovac, CanSino and Gamaleya would also provide added value to the local science and technology sectors which would benefit the people and the country’s development.
“This includes carrying out vaccine bottling processes in the country, research and development, as well as knowledge sharing and technology transfer,” he said.
The government, in the meantime, will continue to hold talks with other pharmaceutical companies to ensure the country has adequate access to free vaccine supply.
He added that the vaccines obtained will be ensured to be safe and effective.
The prime minister explained that the government is aware efforts to prevent Covid-19 from spreading further are important to ensure that the economic situation of the people and the country can be improved as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the first batch of one million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will be received and given out to target groups as early as February 2021, says Muhyiddin.
The Prime Minister will be among the first individuals to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in a bid to convince the people that the vaccine obtained by the country is safe and effective.
He said it would be followed by the frontliners before being given to target groups, namely high-risk groups such as the elderly, those with non-communicable diseases and chronic respiratory diseases.
“The government will ensure Covid-19 vaccines procured are safe and effective,” he said.
Muhyiddin said this in a short video on the latest development regarding the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine to Malaysians.