PETALING JAYA: Pharmaniaga Bhd, the sole distributor of the Sinovac vaccine in Malaysia, was never contacted by the businessman who claimed that he wanted to purchase two million doses for Penang, says its managing director.
“They never contacted us and we also did not contact them,” Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope said during a press conference on Sunday (May 23).
He was asked if the businessman Yong Chee Kong and the company he purportedly represented – Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd – had contacted them for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccine.
On Wednesday (May 19), Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said initial checks showed the vaccine donation offer appeared to be bogus.
Sabah police had on Friday (May 21) recorded a statement from Yong.
The investigation is linked to police reports lodged in Penang.
Yong became the focus of attention when Khairy, who is also minister in charge of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said the offer by a private company of two million free doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for Penang was a scam.
Khairy said an investigation with Sinovac China revealed there was no documentation about any company named Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd.
Yong, who is from Tawau, had claimed that he made the offer on behalf of his “boss” of Hong Kong-based company Xintai Enterprise Development Ltd.
Yong had claimed that he first offered the two million doses of Sinovac vaccine to Sabah early this year, but the state had rejected it as the vaccine was yet to be approved by the Malaysian Government.
