A private company's offer to contribute two million doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to Penang was bogus and a scam, according to Khairy Jamaluddin.
The minister in charge of coordinating the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) told reporters earlier today that checks revealed the company does not exist.
There was also no order or contact made to Sinovac and its licence holder in Malaysia, Pharmaniaga, for such an order from the said company, Khairy (above) added.
"Following the press conference held by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and (former chief minister) Lim Guan Eng yesterday, I had done some digging on this offer to donate vaccines to Penang.
"This company was said to be registered in Hong Kong, but checks on company records in Hong Kong found that it does not exist. We have also checked with Sinovac, who said that they do not have any dealing with this company.
"What I want to say here is that what the Penang chief minister claimed yesterday of an offer to donate two million vaccine doses to Penang (from a company) - this is not true. This is a scam and bogus," Khairy told a press conference held virtually this afternoon.
The science, technology and innovation minister called for the press conference to respond to statements made by Chow and Lim yesterday, who alleged that the federal government was trying to block Penang from receiving vaccine donation.
Khairy said they also tried to check the individual who made the vaccine offer to Chow through a letter in February.
However, this also came back empty.
"Nobody knows who this Yong Chee Kong is, who used an address in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah," he said.
In the letter dated Feb 1, the sender claimed that he was the managing director of "Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd" and offered to donate two million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by paying the cost to Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
He claimed to have contacted Sinovac through its international sales officer named "Coco Chang" and would be paying US$2 million (RM8.2 million) to Sinovac as a deposit to show that he was serious about his intention.
Khairy said Sinovac confirmed that it had not been approached by any representative of such a company. The "Coco Chang" mentioned in the letter also said that she was not involved in managing Sinovac's Asian market and was not contacted over any offer.
According to a search with Hong Kong's companies registry, Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd does not exist, but Xintai Enterprise Development Ltd and Xintai Development Ltd are on the registry.
Xintai Enterprise Development is a company based in Bank of America Tower, Central, Hong Kong. It was established in 2013 and has a paid-up capital of HK$300 million.
The only listed director is named He Qianying.
Xintai Development Limited is a company located at One Capital Place, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. It was established in November 2017 and has a paid-up capital of HK$1.
Its sole listed director is Ng Wai Hong, a Hong Kong resident who holds a Hong Kong identity card.
Ready to approve Penang's application
On the federal government rejecting Penang's application to bring in Sinovac vaccines in March, the minister said it was because Sinovac was not yet approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) then.
According to Khairy, he would now approve Penang's application if the offer by the company existed.
"At that juncture (in March), Sinovac had not been approved by the NPRA. So the Health Ministry in a letter dated March 12 by its secretary-general had replied to Penang saying that we have enough vaccines for Penang under the NIP."
Khairy said in his conversation with Chow two days ago, the latter told him that he would go ahead a get the vaccine donation from this "Yong Chee Kong".
"I told him that if the offer is still available, I can help Penang by giving them the approval to get the vaccine. Because the federal government through the NIP welcomes any effort by anyone to help bring in vaccines, especially those that have been approved by the NPRA.
"I told this to both Chow and Lim. If there is an offer, I will help Penang to get their supply," he added.
The minister said he was disappointed with Chow and Lim's statements and rapped them for politicising the immunisation programme.
Nevertheless, the minister expressed his readiness to be proven wrong. In that case, he said he would be the first to apologise to Chow and Lim besides giving an on-the-spot approval for Penang to import the vaccine.
"If Penang can prove that this offer is legit, then I will give approval on the spot," he said.
Khairy said that he will ask the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force to lodge a police report over the matter, as they want to find out who is the person responsible.
The person's letter, he added, had been used as a basis for yesterday's presser where the federal government was accused of blocking vaccine donation.
"That was a very serious allegation, which I completely deny," Khairy said.
'Want to pay for vaccine? Your choice'
During today's press conference, Khairy said the public can choose to purchase vaccines from state governments as several are ordering their supply.
However, he stressed that this does not guarantee them quick access, as priority is given to Putrajaya to receive its supply of vaccines.
He said this when asked about the Selangor government rolling out their vaccination drive. The state today made an offer to employers to purchase vaccines from them.
"So while I cannot stop people from registering for the Selangor vaccination programme, for paying a deposit or down payment, the only assurance I can give the public as well as industries and employers, we probably can get you vaccinated quicker than the Selangor programme.
"But if you still want to pay money and get it later, then it is your decision. I don't want to be seen as blocking Selangor's efforts. We are supposed to support each other.
"But I have to be upfront and say that as far as supply is concerned, the federal government will be prioritised," he added.
Khairy said he had also given his assurance to the Sarawak government that the latter does not need to procure extra vaccine supplies, as Putrajaya would send them the product.
This came as Sarawak was also planning to get vaccines on their own.
"I have communicated this with Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas, and I have informed him there is no need for Sarawak to purchase any extra vaccines, Sinovac vaccine or Sinovac finished vaccine.
"Because I will deliver for Sarawak as I will deliver for all other states as soon as we get our vaccine supplies from Sinovac, Pfizer as well as AstraZeneca.
"I have given my assurance to the deputy chief minister of Sarawak, and he is happy with my assurance."
Asked if this means Sarawak is cancelling plans to procure vaccines on its own, Khairy said he does not have information on that. - Mkini
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