PUTRAJAYA: The Selangor government’s vaccination initiative is not part of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, which is free of charge for all those residing in Malaysia, says Khairy Jamaluddin.
The progamme’s coordinating minister said that as far as the government is concerned, vaccine producers Pfizer and AstraZeneca only sell to national governments around the world.
“As for Sinovac, orders from the Federal Government must be fulfilled in totality before it can sell the vaccines to private entities and state governments.
“That is the condition that we have given to Sinovac as well as its local product registration holder, Pharmaniaga Bhd,” he said on Tuesday (May 25).
Khairy said the government insisted on the condition to ensure that the government is given priority.
“We have to prioritise the national programme where vaccines are free to everyone who is a resident of Malaysia,” he said.
Khairy also pointed out that vaccines to be used in Malaysia must be approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, which so far has approved the use of three vaccines – Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.
Recently, Selangor exco member in charge of public health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said that employers can now buy the Covid-19 vaccine for their workers through the Selangor government and that interested employers can register to buy the vaccines through the state’s Selangkah application.
The Selangor government has allocated some RM100mil to help expedite the national immunisation programme.
