Malaysia to receive Pfizer vaccine end-February - PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysia is expected to receive the supply of Pfizer vaccine for the first phase at the end of February.

The Prime Minister said the Ministry of Health (MOH) has developed the National COVID-19 Immunization Program Plan as a preliminary preparation to ensure the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine to the people runs smoothly when supplies are obtained.

"To achieve herd immunity, as many as 60 to 70 per cent or 20 to 23 million of the Malaysian population must be given the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Currently, the government has signed a preliminary agreement with the facilities of Covax, Pfizer company and AstraZeneca for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine to obtain a guarantee of vaccine supply of 40 per cent of the population coverage.

"The government is also in the process of final negotiations with Sinovac, CanSino and Gamaleya to secure vaccine supply increased by more than 80 pe rcent of the country's total population or 26.5 million," he said here on Monday.

He said this in the Prime Minister's Special Message on the Implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

Commenting further, Muhyiddin said the government would ensure that only vaccines that meet the safety, quality and effective characteristics would be registered and used in Malaysia.

"This evaluation process is made by the Product Evaluation Committee of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA) for approval and the Drug Control Authority for the purpose of registration before the COVID-19 vaccine can be used in Malaysia," he added.