Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin says the government is also in the final stages of immunization talks with Russia and China.
Malaysia has signed an agreement to buy 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and is in talks with China and Russia to increase vaccine supply, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a video address Tuesday, while in which the country continues to fight a third wave of coronavirus cases.
The government signed a contract to receive 12.8 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech in November and is also receiving vaccines from the World Health Organization’s COVAX program.
“This means we have had a vaccine supply to cover 40 per cent (of the population),” Muhyiddin said.
The government is now in final talks with Chinese-based manufacturers Sinovac and CanSino Biologics as well as Russia’s Gamaleya Institute to cover its remaining requirements and it is expected that there will be enough vaccines to 83 percent of people in the country are protected.
Malaysia is fighting the third wave of the coronavirus, but it has allowed shops and other businesses to stay open while adhering to health protocols such as wearing a mask and inserting plastic shields [Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]
“They will not only be the purchase of vaccines but will also include filling & finishing capacity (putting the vaccines in the filters) in Malaysia and potential R&D linkages,” he said. Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysia’s minister of science, technology and innovation, tweeted.
Total procurement costs are currently around $ 504.4m, according to the government.
After monitoring the coronavirus for much of the year, Malaysia has been battling a third wave of diseases, which accelerated after a state election in Borneo state in Sabah in September and then spread to Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas.
Collections of cases have emerged in prisons and detention centers as well as factories, with the largest behavior in the country emerging from the bedrooms full of people who are home to employed migrant workers. by Top Glove, the world’s largest manufacturer of medical gloves.
Vaccine schedule
The state news agency Bernama said Muhyiddin, who is 73 and was treated for pancreatic cancer two years ago, would be among the first to receive the injection in a bid to boost public confidence in the vaccine. Front lines and other high-risk groups, including the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, are also first-line.
Khairy says the vaccine register, which the government hopes to announce in January, is also subject to approval and registration by the National Medicines Regulatory Agency (NPRA). Authorities are aiming to get enough stock to cover Malaysia, as well as non-citizens living and working in the country, he said.
A rebellion of COVID-19 linked to workers at the world’s largest glove manufacturer has become the largest case collection in Malaysia [File: Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]
Under the Pfizer contract, Malaysia expects to receive one million doses in the first quarter of 2021, with vaccinations expected to begin in February. The remaining doses of the vaccine, which require ultra-cold storage, will come in the following places.
Nearby Singapore delivered the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.
Malaysia reported 2,018 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, the third highest daily infection recorded since the outbreak began in January. Total cases now stand at 95,327 and 438 people have died from COVID-19.