Almost a million doses of Sinovac vaccine expected to be administered by end of April

KUALA LUMPUR: Almost one million doses of the Sinovac vaccine from China are expected to be administered by the end of April, says Pharmaniaga Berhad (Pharmaniaga) managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope.

He said this would be possible after the batch manufacturing process validation (PV) data and vaccine stability study data could be provided by mid-April to complete the registration application before it is approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA).

The first dose of the vaccine was given on March 18.

"To date, we have provided almost 200,000 vaccine vials which have been distributed to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

"We are also in the process of obtaining NPRA's approval for the fill and finish product which is currently in our factory, numbering about 300,000 doses.

"At the same time, we have received about 400 litres (of the vaccine liquid) and we will carry out the fill and finish process at our factory," he said after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) and Pharmaniaga.

Zulkarnain said the target would also help meet the government's expectation that Pharmaniaga would be able to produce two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine every month to ensure a stable supply in Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA