PRIVATE hospitals will not rollout their own vaccination programme anytime soon due to the unavailability of vaccine supplies, said Dr Kuljit Singh.

The president of the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) said manufacturers are currently prioritising supplies for government clients.

“We have tried. We have asked the manufacturers but they said we have to go through the government,” Dr Kuljit told The Malaysian Insight.

“We cannot procure it directly from them as there is an understanding between the manufacturers and governments.

“Governments remain the priority for the time being. Once governments have enough, they will decide whether it can be given to the private practice.”

Dr Kuljit said the priority given to governments by manufacturers is not just unique to Malaysia but it is the case worldwide, adding that private hospitals have approached the same companies which are currently supplying vaccines for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

This included Pfizer Inc, AstraZeneca plc and Sinovac Biotech Ltd which currently have enough supplies for their government clients only.

Private hospitals are also trying to procure vaccines which are currently not approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

Dr Kuljit noted that this will take a longer time as the vaccine will then have to be registered and approved by the NPRA before it can be used in Malaysia.

“That one is a bit complicated because it is going to take time for approval,” he said.

“We still have to wait because the government itself does not have enough vaccine supplies.”

Dr Kuljit said APHM has informed Putrajaya of this development.

“Putrajaya is aware and we understand their issue also. We just have to be a little bit more patient and hopefully it happens soon,” he added.

APHM and several quarters have called for a parallel vaccination programme run by private hospitals to complement the government’s vaccination drive and expedite the formation of herd immunity against the virus.

APHM said on March 2 that Putrajaya should allow its members to buy their own supply of Covid-19 vaccines and administer them.

This came after the government’s own vaccination programme had come under much criticism for progressing at a slow pace.

Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin said recently that it was doubtful that Phase 3 of the programme, which was supposed to begin this month, would take off as planned due to limited supplies.

He has also criticised wealthy nations for hoarding global vaccine supplies.

Calling it an act of injustice, Khairy said wealthy nations had bought enough shots to vaccinate their citizens up to five times over.

Phase 3 is for adults aged 18 and above, which will involve 13.7 million people.

As of yesterday, more than 10 million people have registered for vaccination in Malaysia but slightly more than 1.9 million doses have been administered so far.

The government is also concurrently running a parallel vaccination programme for the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Putrajaya had set the target to complete the vaccination exercise by February 2022, by which 80% of the population would have been vaccinated.

To achieve herd immunity, at least 60%-70% of the population of about 20 to 23 million people must be immunised. The earliest the country hopes to achieve herd immunity is by the end of this year. – May 16, 2021.