No private distributor authorised to distribute PFIZER COVID-19 vaccine - Pfizer Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Neither Pfizer Inc nor any of its affiliates globally, have authorized anyone to import, market or distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and currently, there is no authorised private distributor of the vaccine worldwide, according to Pfizer Malaysia.

In a statement today, it said the quality and efficacy of any vaccine moving through any non-authorised channels cannot be assured and should be viewed as suspect potentially putting lives at risk.

Pfizer Malaysia mentioned that they are committed to bringing a safe and secure supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to Malaysians, partnering with the Government of Malaysia to ensure the smooth implementation of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).

According to Pfizer Malaysia, they have worked closely with the COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV), under the purview of the Health Ministry (MOH) and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI) since the beginning of the pandemic.

"We reiterate that during the pandemic phase, Pfizer will supply the COVID-19 vaccine only to central governments and supra-national organizations such as COVAX for deployment in national immunisation programmes.

"To address the global health crisis, all our current COVID-19 vaccine supply agreements are directly with government entities. We believe that they are in the best position during the pandemic to distribute vaccines fairly and equitably across their populations," the statement read.

-- BERNAMA