Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today dismissed claims that the country is facing a shortage of vaccines amid the surge of Covid-19 cases.
He drew the conclusion after paying a visit to the Sinovac fill-and-finish production line at Pharmaniaga Lifescience Sdn Bhd in Puchong, Selangor.
Ismail (above) said Pharmaniaga will be able to supply the government with 8.2 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine by end of June, thus is able to deal with any shortage that arises.
"The fill-and-finish production line has supplied 1.8 million doses of vaccine and will complete two million doses by end of June, adding up to 3.8 million doses of vaccines," he told an online press conference.
They do not include the 4.4 million doses of finished vaccines to be imported from China, Ismail added.
"We have imported 1.4 million doses of finished vaccines (so far) and we will receive three million doses by end of June," he said.
Apart from this, Ismail said another three million doses of finished Sinovac vaccines will arrive in July and another three million doses will be imported in August.
This would add up to 10.4 million doses of finished vaccines from China, he added.
"Pharmaniaga is able to assist the vaccination process for the people. Thus, the issue of the government facing a shortage does not arise.
"Pharmaniaga can help if the country is facing a shortage in supply, as alleged by some," Ismail said.
Yesterday, former energy, science, technology, environment, and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin asked whether the vaccine supply was falling short of the government's estimation.
Citing a report from the Covid-19 Vaccines Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV), she said only 2.07 million doses were administered as of May 19, which indicated 2.95 million doses were received by virtue of the 70 percent usage rate estimation.
Yeo said based on the infographic given by her predecessor Khairy Jamaluddin, the country should have received about six million vaccines by mid-May.
She also pointed out that Pharmaniaga, which received 200 litres of Sinovac vaccine in bulk for fill-and-finish in February, was only able to produce the first batch of 290,480 doses which were distributed last week - more than 10 weeks after receiving the bulk supply.
"The government should review the process and if possible, find ways to shorten the bulk-to-vials (without compromising safety)," added Yeo.
At the presser today, Pharmaniaga Bhd managing director Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the company aimed to double its production capacity to 8.2 million doses a month as early as August from the four million doses at present.
He said the company has adopted two strategies - bulk-to-vials and imported finished vaccines - in ensuring adequate supplies for the country.
"The finish-and-fill production is much cheaper than the finished imported vaccines. We ordered filled vaccines from China as we are on standby (mode) as required by the government (to face any possible shortage)," said Zulkarnain.
Malaysia is currently in Phase 1 and 2 of the vaccination programme, involving frontliners and the frail respectively.
Phase 3, which is for everyone else, was supposed to kick off this month but has been postponed to June.
Meanwhile, Zulkarnian said Pharmaniaga was also discussing with the government on supplying excessive vaccines to the private sector.
He said the company has received many requests from the private sector.
It was reported that a few selected private hospitals will be allowed to provide Covid-19 shots.
The Sarawak government recently announced that it had procured a million doses of Sinovac vaccines. Selangor also said it had booked 2.5 million doses of an approved vaccine. - Mkini
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