Why Pharmaniaga 'profiteering' when Johor not enough vaccines, asks Teo

 

Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching questioned the government for allegedly allowing pharmaceutical group Pharmaniaga to profiteer while it fails to deliver sufficient Covid-19 vaccines to Johor, despite high vaccine registration there.

“It is crystal clear that Johor does not receive the (amount of) vaccine we should be getting, even though 91.8 percent of Johoreans have registered for the vaccination, much higher than the national average of 79.8 percent,” she said.

Teo was speaking during a press conference in Parliament today.

She said, as of July 21, they only received 38 doses for every 100 people in Johor, adding that this is the third-lowest figure nationwide.

She also said general practitioners (GPs) in the state were told they are unable to begin Covid-19 vaccinations as scheduled on July 20, due to a shortage of vaccines.

Until today, she said, the GPs have not been informed when they can start the vaccinations.

The DAP international secretary said although Johor is able to administer up to 60,000 doses a day, that has been reduced to 32,500 due to a lack of vaccines in the state.

In order for Johor to administer 60,000 doses a day, it would need to receive 1.8 million doses a month, she added.

This is where the 14 million doses of Sinovac vaccine being sold by Pharmaniaga can come in, she said.

Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching

“The federal government should stop using the delay from Pfizer as an excuse (for the country’s insufficient vaccines). Pharmaniaga has 14 million doses of vaccine for sale.

“Why allow Pharmaniaga to profiteer while many ordinary Malaysians are still waiting for their vaccine?

“Why can’t we purchase the vaccine from Pharmaniaga and supply them to the states that have been undersupplied so far?” said Teo.

Last week, Coordinating Minister of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) Khairy Jamaluddin explained that Pharmaniaga is now selling its Sinovac vaccines as it has fulfilled its commitment of 12 million doses to the federal government.

Khairy added that the government allowed Pharmaniaga to sell Sinovac vaccines in the open market to get more people vaccinated quicker.

At the same press conference today, Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong also said vaccine delivery and vaccination rates in Malacca were slow.

“Malacca today is the state that has the most Covid-19 patients who need to go to the intensive care unit (ICU).

“With such a state, we need more vaccines. I don't see why the government can't decide to buy from Pharmaniaga.

“What is happening today, is that private hospitals and clinics have announced that starting from August, they will be able to sell vaccines at prices ranging from RM380 to RM400.

“This should not be happening when the government promised they would provide vaccines for free to all Malaysians,” said Khoo.

There is also vaccine inequity among states, he said, pointing out Sarawak’s high vaccination rates.

“If we look at Sarawak, we can’t dispute that Sarawak’s vaccination rates are very high, almost reaching 80 percent as they are due to have a (state) election.

“This means that the federal government is more focused on Sarawak.

"We understand that, however, at the same time, those in other states also possess the same rights (to be vaccinated) as those in Sarawak,” Khoo said.

In May, Khairy declared that Sarawak would have its Covid-19 vaccination programme accelerated to ensure safe state elections. - Mkini