PAC has the details on vaccine expenditures, says Khairy

 

Khairy Jamaluddin said the Covid-19 immunisation task force was working with the tourism, arts and culture minister to establish travel bubbles in tourist destinations such as Langkawi. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: All details on the national Covid-19 immunisation programme’s (PICK) expenditures were presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in yesterday’s proceedings, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

The science, technology and innovation (Mosti) minister said he had presented documents on vaccine purchase agreements and the government’s expenses, including the price of each type of vaccine procured.

In his speech to the Dewan Rakyat today, Khairy said that overall, the government had allocated RM5.8 billion for PICK, with RM4.8 billion for the health ministry and RM1 billion to Mosti.

“The implementation of PICK requires huge expenditures for the country. It is a given that the allocation of RM5.8 billion will raise questions on how this money was and will be spent,” he said.

In this regard, Khairy said PICK has attended two proceedings with PAC, the first of which took place on Jan 5 this year.

He added that the deputy secretary-general of Mosti had also briefed the parliamentary select committee on health, science and innovation last Friday.

“To ensure the transparency and openness of PICK, a briefing was held for MPs and I guarantee that all expenditures and agreements on vaccine procurements under PICK will be presented to PAC without any interruptions,” said Khairy to loud thumps from the Dewan.

Meanwhile, Khairy informed the Dewan that the Covid-19 immunisation task force (CITF) was working with the tourism, arts and culture minister to establish travel bubbles in tourist destinations such as Langkawi to facilitate the sector’s recovery.

He also said that as of Monday, 20.1 million people have registered for the vaccine, equivalent to 61.7% of the population. Some 89.1% of 3.5 million senior citizens have been vaccinated, he added.

Of the 129,000 pregnant women who have registered, 68,000 have either been vaccinated or been issued an appointment.

Khairy added that the government has procured a total of 23.8 million vaccine doses as of Monday and is in the midst of discussions with other countries interested in supplying vaccines to Malaysia, including the UK and Saudi Arabia. - FMT