Sinovac vaccine manufacturing process to be evaluated first for approval - Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: The China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine received by Malaysia today must first go through a manufacturing process by the pharmaceutical company, Pharmaniaga, to be evaluated and approved by the regulatory agency.

Coordinating Minister for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin said the manufacturing process was one of the criteria that would be evaluated by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) before giving recommendations to the Drug Control Authority (PBKD) for approval.

"Many ask why we receive a vaccine that has yet to be approved by the regulatory today. This is because the approval process from the regulatory must look at how this vaccine is bottled before it can be approved.

"Many ask why we receive a vaccine that has yet to be approved by the regulatory agency today. This is because the approval process must look at how this vaccine is bottled before it can be approved.

He said this, among others, aimed to provide registration application data and to carry out validation process as well as looking at the stability data from the factory.

Khairy, who is also the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said this at a press conference after witnessing the arrival of the 200 litres of Sinovac vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical firm at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), from Beijing, China, this morning.