Pharmaniaga will sell 14 million doses of the two-dose Sinovac vaccine to private companies and state governments, Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in July 2021.
The announcement followed word a week earlier that the government would order no more Sinovac for the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, known as PICK. The sales were approved by the Special Committee on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) and will run from July until September. The aim is to speed up Malaysia’s target of vaccinating 100% of its adult population by October.
States that wanted their own supply
Selangor and other state governments have pressed for years to buy vaccines for their own residents. Ismail said they can now reserve doses from Pharmaniaga. There is a check: JKJAV will review every purchase application first.
Sinovac may be out of PICK, but the government is not finished with it. It has decided to buy another two million doses for Operation Surge Capacity, which aims to vaccinate the whole adult population of the Klang Valley by 1 August.
A private market opens
The plan fits what Khairy Jamaluddin, the coordinating minister for PICK, said in June. Private companies, he had announced, would be able to sell COVID-19 vaccines starting in August.
Sinovac will not be alone there. China’s Sinopharm vaccine recently received conditional approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency. Kanger International, a bamboo product manufacturer partly owned by Perlis royalty, then said it had signed a deal to buy and distribute five million doses. The version it bought is made in the UAE.
Kanger is expected to supply the doses to the Sabah government, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the company in May.
Sources
Sources
- 14 Million Doses Of Pharmaniaga's Sinovac COVID-19… – Lowyat.NET
- State governments, private sector ask for over 5.0mil doses of…
