Penang govt urges company offering vaccine contribution to come forward

GEORGE TOWN: The private company which offers two million doses of Sinovac vaccine to the state government earlier should come forward to clear its name and image, said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

This followed serious allegations by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin that the company is bogus and its offer is a scam.

"The allegation is serious as the name and director of the company were mentioned by the minister and it should come forward to deny the allegations," he said in a statement here today.

According to Chow, the state government had taken prudent action as soon as it received the vaccine offer in a letter dated Feb 1 2021 in which the state government sought the view of the Penang Health Department which later requested it to be forwarded to the Health Ministry for advice.

Following that on March 12, he said MOH secretary-general Datuk Mohd Shafiq Abdullah replied that the vaccine contribution could not be considered as the federal government had implemented the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme but the status of the company was not touched.

"With this, the state government could not pursue the matter as it did not receive MOH's recommendation letter to enable them negotiate with the vaccine supplier.

"The state government had carried out its responsibility on this issue as the vaccine offer was made for the people in Penang towards their safety against COVID-19 virus," he said.

-- BERNAMA