Malaysia to receive one million doses of COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine contributed by US tomorrow

He said these vaccines will greatly help intensify Malaysia's vaccination process and make meaningful progress to the ongoing rollout of Malaysia's National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme.

"On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I would like to once again express my sincere gratitude to my counterpart, (Secretary of State) Antony Blinken and the Government of the United States for the generous contribution of its COVID-19 vaccines," he said in a statement on Sunday.

The foreign minister said Malaysia is also highly appreciative of the invaluable support extended by the US through its embassy in Kuala Lumpur since the start of the pandemic last year, including the in-kind contribution of medical supplies, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and ICT equipment, worth US$250,000.

He also hoped that the close and friendly ties will be further strengthened for the mutual benefit of both countries.

Hishammuddin said in the common pursuit for equitable global access to the COVID-19 vaccines, Malaysia stands ready to establish all-round cooperation with the United States in vaccine research, development, and distribution.

He noted that in his letter to Blinken on 4 June, he had reiterated that Malaysia welcomes President Joe Biden's June 3 announcement of the United States' expression of support for temporary waiver of the Intellectual Property (IP) protection on COVID-19 vaccines.

He added that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had also stated in his address at the Nikkei International Conference in May 2021 that Malaysia's supports the IP protection waiver for COVID-19 vaccines.