Tropical Malaysia works to boost cold-storage, get more COVID-19 shots

The Southeast Asian nation says it has so far got enough doses to inoculate 40% of its 32 million people, and has promised to spend $500 million to buy enough vaccines.

The government, which has struck a deal to buy 12.8 million doses of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer-BioNTech's shot, said it was in talks for an option to buy more doses to cover another fifth of the population.

It is also in final talks to secure a total of 23.9 million doses from Chinese manufacturers Sinovac Biotech Ltd and CanSino Biologics, and from Russia's Gamaleya Institute, the maker of the Sputnik V vaccine, Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

It will secure additional AstraZeneca vaccines under the global COVAX facility, and has begun talks with Moderna and Johnson & Johnson as a buffer, the minister added.

Malaysia, where temperatures average 30 degrees Celsius year-round, wants to ensure a distribution network that does not need to store vaccines for long, Khairy said.

"Once the Pfizer vaccines come in, we are hoping that it will be a just-in-time roll out of vaccination," he said.

Pfizer's vaccines need to be stored and transported at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94F), although they can be kept in a fridge for up to five days, or up to 15 days in a thermal shipping box.

Some Asian countries have expressed reservations about the Pfizer vaccine due to tropical heat, remote island communities and a lack of ultra-cold freezers.

Malaysian's vaccine supply committee will identify ultra-cold storage facilities and aims to stagger distribution to ensure coverage in remote regions, ahead of the arrival of Pfizer's first shipment in February, Khairy said.