MMA: Unfair to blame govt over Covid-19 vaccine wastage

 

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) today came to the government's defence over the high wastage of Covid-19 vaccines.

In a statement, MMA president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said it was unfair to blame Putrajaya as the surplus of the vaccine was due to a drop in demand.

"It would be unfair to put the blame on the government for the high wastage in doses of the Covid-19 vaccines as at the time of procuring, every country was rushing to secure enough vaccines for their population.

"Due to the high global demand for the vaccines, there were concerns over the supply. I think it was right to assume at the time that everyone was going to be vaccinated.

"We did achieve a high percentage of full vaccinations. However, uptake for the vaccines had dropped during and after the rollout of the first booster,” he said.

Around that time, Muruga Raj added, most economic sectors were opening up and the number of Covid-19 infections were on the decline.

"We can't blame the government for a low uptake in booster shots," he said.

On January 4, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reportedly said the country had a surplus of some six million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Some of them, according to the prime minister, had reached their expiration date and had to be disposed of.

The issue was also debated in the Parliament yesterday, where some MPs questioned the rationale behind Putrajaya's move to order such a huge stockpile of vaccines at the height of the pandemic, which led to the wastage.

MMA said there are many factors that have caused the drop in demand for Covid-19 vaccines.

While there is an ample supply of the vaccine, Muruga Raj said, many had chosen not to get the boosters despite it being recommended by the Health Ministry and medical experts.

Travellers were also no longer required to provide proof of full vaccination when they travel by air.

Govt did well in securing vaccines

"... hence it is likely that a percentage of people who did not want to be vaccinated in the first place, would have remained unvaccinated.

"Considering the high demand for vaccines at the start of 2021, we feel the government did well in securing more than enough vaccines for the population.

"At the time, every country's health ministry would have targeted a 90 to 100 percent vaccination and booster rate but the demand for vaccines dipped by the time the programme for booster shots had rolled out," he said.

Muruga Raj added that MMA believes the government had done its best to negotiate the best deal for vaccines then, despite it not having bargaining power due to high global demand.

He also praised the government for not relying on a single supplier for vaccines. - Mkini