Only Sinovac for seniors? I did not say that, Khairy clarifies

 

Chong Tong Choy, 85, holding up a placard saying that he had been vaccinated in Kota Kinabalu. Khairy Jamaluddin says that both the Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have been cleared for those above 60. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac vaccines have been found to be safe by the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV) for senior citizens aged 60 and above.

Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister coordinating the national Covid-19 immunisation programme denied reports that the Sinovac vaccine would be the only one used for senior groups aged 60 and above.

“My previous announcement was that Sinovac has been cleared by JKJAV for the use of groups aged 60 and above, not that it would be used exclusively on them.

“The headline (referring to a screenshot) was misleading as if seniors would only be receiving Sinovac (vaccine),” he said in a Twitter post.

Last week, Khairy was reported as saying that the government would provide the Sinovac vaccine from China to senior citizens aged 60 and above through Phase 2 of the immunisation programme starting today.

He said the decision was made through JKJAV after the vaccine was found to be safe, effective and stable to be given to the elderly besides taking into account the latest data and the development of usage practices in other countries including Turkey and Brazil.

In a separate tweet, Khairy also said individuals who were recipients on the first day of the second phase of immunisation for the elderly received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“Among those who received vaccinations today, the first day of Phase 2 of the programme for the elderly and vulnerable groups, were Tamby Sulaiman, 84 and Ngan Kho Wu, also 84 from Sibu, Sarawak.

“Both received the Pfizer vaccine,” he said. - FMT