The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) today demanded an explanation from the Health Ministry on why Malaysia is not a part of the Covax Vaccine Plan.

The statement comes in the wake of a report by health news site Code Blue, which quoted Health Minister Adham Baba as saying that Malaysia is still “communicating” with the World Health Organisation (WHO) over the Covid-19 vaccine access plan.

The participation deadline for the global vaccine access plan is today and a total of 172 countries are currently on board.

MMA president Dr N. Ganabaskaran said in a statement today that the ministry has a responsibility to explain to the people the reason for not signing up for the Covax Vaccine Plan.

The association believes that the Covax Vaccine Plan can serve as an additional option, which will guarantee access to Covid-19 vaccines even if Malaysia has its own bilateral negotiations for it.

Covax is coordinated by GAVI, an international vaccine alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), and WHO.

The platform was developed to support the research, development, and manufacturing of a wide range of Covid-19 vaccine candidates.

It is a pooled procurement system that aims to provide participating countries fair and equitable access to vaccines by pooling purchasing power from these economies.

Covax aims to deliver two billion doses of safe and effective vaccines by the end of 2021, which will be sufficient to protect vulnerable communities and frontliners.

“We urge the MOH to be transparent on its plans to acquire vaccines for the country. The rakyat have a right to know and the government has a duty to keep the country informed,” Ganabaskaran said.

“We understand there may be safety concerns on vaccine development being fast-tracked and we are equally concerned.

“But any potential vaccine will be thoroughly evaluated through stringent checks by MOH for efficacy and safety before they are approved and declared safe for the population.”

Gnanabaskaran said the people should be informed if the ministry needs time beyond the participation deadline, to decide on the matter.

“The health minister must respond now or he may have to answer to the rakyat later why Malaysia is last in the queue for the vaccines,” he said.

To date, Covid-19 has infected more than 10,000 Malaysians and killed 128. Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 30 million and killed 950,000. – September 18, 2020.