The long-running row between former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin over the Covid-19 vaccine issue on social media continues.
The latest exchange came after Najib voiced his desire to receive the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac, just as Khairy did earlier today.
“Since more supplies from Sinovac have arrived and most frontliners have received their first vaccine dose, to dispel accusations that Najib is anti-vaccine and does not believe in it, I hope the Health Ministry will schedule me to receive the Sinovac vaccine as Khairy did soon,” he said on Facebook today.
His post includes a link to news articles regarding Khairy becoming the first person in Malaysia to receive the Sinovac vaccine.
However, the Pekan MP did not elaborate on the anti-vaccine accusations.
Earlier, Khairy, who is coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, reportedly said Najib had cancelled his vaccination appointment slated for March 6.
Najib, however, said he had wanted to give way to frontliners at the time, and questioned whether he was not allowed to do so even though others made the same gesture.
“Maybe I'd need to hold a press conference first,” he said with a sarcastic tone.
His post included several screenshots of news articles – one regarding Khairy’s statement on Najib’s move to cancel his vaccine appointment, another on Khairy’s decision to skip Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, and a piece about Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin’s move to allow a healthcare worker to take his place in the vaccine queue.
In an immediate response to Najib’s Facebook post, Khairy wrote in the comment section: “You and I know that is not the reason.”
He also expressed hope that Najib would show up for his next appointment and help encourage more people to sign up for inoculation, especially in the former premier's constituency of Pekan, Pahang, where Khairy said only 13,020 people have registered.
Khairy also assured that the Sinovac vaccine is safe to use.
There should be no doubts about the vaccine following evaluation by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, which found it to be as safe as the Pfizer vaccine, he said.
He added that the Sinovac vaccine is in use all over the world, with over 60 million doses administered and emergency use authorisations issued in 27 countries including China, Indonesia, Turkey, and Brazil.
“This clearly shows many other countries also acknowledge its safety, efficacy, and stability to be used by their people.
“Although the country has just received the Sinovac vaccine, up to March 15, over 15 percent of global vaccine doses are from Sinovac,” he said.
The minister said his second Sinovac dose will be administered 21 days after his first, which is the same interval as the two doses needed to complete the Pfizer vaccination. - Mkini
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