PUTRAJAYA has agreed to terms with pharmaceutical company Pfizer to obtain its Covid-19 vaccine, which will be used to vaccinate 20% of the Malaysian population, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. 

“The government has signed a preliminary agreement with Pfizer to provide a supply of 12.8 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to cover the immunisation of 6.4 million people,” he said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

He said Pfizer has agreed to deliver one million doses in the first quarter of next year, followed by 1.7 million doses in the second quarter, 5.8 million in the third quarter and 4.3 million doses in the fourth quarter. 

The prime minister said vaccination will be carried out in phases and priority will be for high-risk groups.

He said these cover front-line workers, the elderly, and patients with non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases. 

Muhyiddin said vaccination will be free for Malaysians, but foreigners will be charged.

However, he said the company still needs to get approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration, the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and Health Ministry before the vaccine can be used in Malaysia.

Muhyiddin said the deal was signed on November 24. 

“The government guarantees all Malaysians that the Covid-19 vaccines used in Malaysia will go through stringent tests before they are administered.”

He also announced that the ministry would begin a phase three vaccine clinical research through a government-to-government initiative with China. 

He said the Covid-19 trial will involve the vaccine that was developed by the Institute of Medical Biology Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

“The research will involve 3,000 participants and will assess the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in development. 

“It will be conducted by a local clinical research organisation and has already been registered in the National Medical Research Registry.”

Muhyiddin added that the study will take place at eight clinical research sites managed by the ministry. – November 27, 2020.