First batch of 'finished' Sinovac vaccine to arrive on March 15: KJ

 

COVID-19 | The first batch of China's Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine will arrive on March 15, totalling 100,000 doses, followed by a second batch of the same amount four days later, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

The two shipments will involve 'finished' vaccines that are ready to be administered, unlike the bulk shipment that arrived on Feb 27 and will need to be bottled before distribution.

Khairy said the finished vaccines will be used in Phase 1 of Malaysia's Covid-19 vaccination program.

Previously, Malaysia received a delivery of 200 litres of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine, which is enough for than 300,000 doses.

However, those will only be ready to use after the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) approves Pharmaniaga's fill-and-finish facility, which Khairy said will take at least one month to undergo stability testing.

The Sinovac vaccine had earlier received conditional approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), along with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Khairy previously said he would skip the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and take whichever vaccine the NPRA approved next in order to boost confidence in the various brands of vaccines.

As such, the minister said he will likely receive his first Sinovac dose in the third week of March.

“Maybe in the third week of this month, I will become fluent in Mandarin,” Khairy quipped when asked when he will get the vaccine jab. 

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

He added that the government is also expediting negotiations with another Chinese Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer, CanSino Biologics, for its single-dose vaccine.

“It is important for us to add a single-dose vaccine in our portfolio,” he said.

Though the government had also been in talks with Johnson & Johnson over its single-dose vaccine, Khairy said they may have to drop the negotiations.

“We will finalise (the matter) in the committee meeting on Thursday but it looks like we might have to drop (negotiations with Johnson & Johnson) because they can only give two million doses at the end of the year and that is too late.”

The minister said Malaysia is looking into the possibility of adding the US firm Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine to the country's vaccine portfolio.

Preliminary data from clinical trials in the UK showed it had 83.9 percent efficacy, although this fell to 60 percent in South Africa where a virus strain that is resistant to several Covid-19 vaccines is prevalent.

Malaysia began its vaccination rollout on Feb 24 and since then, about 140,000 people have been inoculated.

Khairy clarified that the government does not have a daily dose target under Phase 1 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

“But we have a target to finish Phase 1, at least the first doses, by the end of this month.

“At the moment, the rates are satisfactory. Once we get to Phase 3, then we will have to start hitting in excess of 100,000 or 120,000 a day,” he said.

Phase 3 of the immunisation programme is scheduled to begin in May and will involve adults above the age of 18. - Mkini