Harapan moots three strategies for govt to speed up vaccination

 

Pakatan Harapan has mooted three strategies for the government to speed up Covid-19 vaccination in the country.

This as Covid-19 cases continue to climb, while the pace of vaccine rollouts has not met public expectations.

In a joint statement, the Harapan Covid-19 Vaccination Committee said the first strategy was for the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) to expedite review and approval of vaccine candidates, especially those approved by the World Health Organisation and health authorities overseas.

At present, only three vaccines have been approved for use locally, namely Pfizer, Sinovac, and AstraZeneca.

"The tedious bureaucratic processes must be cut short and expedited while preserving the independence of the review process to ensure swift approvals while safeguarding the safety and efficacy of those vaccines," they said.

Among the vaccines currently pending approval are Russia's Sputnik V, and China's Cansino vaccines.

The Harapan committee said this can be sped up with assistance from peer competent agencies in other countries.

De facto vaccine minister Khairy Jamaluddin said NPRA was still deliberating on Sputnik V as they are "not entirely satisfied" with the data provided by Duopharma - the local product registration holder.

The European Union is also still evaluating Sputnik V for its efficacy and safety, while Brazil has withheld approval for the Russian-made vaccine.

The Harapan committee's second proposed strategy was for the government to expand its current selection of vaccines, such as the one by Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.

They also urged the government to start negotiations for late-stage trial vaccines such as Sinopharm and Novavax.

"The government must not be content with the current variety of vaccines, as pharmaceutical companies have directed their priorities to wealthy nations.

"Malaysia can afford to purchase vaccines at or above market price to secure early vaccine delivery, a tactic used by Israel and the UAE.

"The adverse impact of slow vaccination on the economy greatly overshadows the cost of spending a little more to buy vaccines," they said.

Khairy has said that the government is in talks with Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.

However, he said the government would not be procuring Moderna vaccines as it was too expensive.

Sinopharm, meanwhile, was approved for emergency use by the WHO earlier this month.

The third strategy proposed by the Harapan committee was to allow state governments and private healthcare entities to procure vaccines for paying customers.

"This will draw market forces to fill the gap. The federal government would then be enabled to use their limited resources to focus on efforts to vaccinate the rest of the population," they said.

Khairy yesterday said the NPRA was looking at approving more vaccines that would not be used in the government's inoculation programme, but can be used by the private sector instead.

This he said, included Moderna. - Mkini