EVEN though Malaysia has inked deals to buy vaccines for Covid-19, the shots would have to be certified safe and effective by the regulatory bodies before they are administered, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced today that the government would purchase a coronavirus vaccine from pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

“Although there is an agreement, what is important is that the vaccine must be approved for effectiveness and safety by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency),” said Noor Hisham.

He said the authorities would have to be prudent in its administration of the vaccine as doses were limited. 

Priority would go to the health frontliners and high risk groups, he said.

The Health Ministry would monitor the inoculated for side effects and effectiveness of the vaccine.

Dr Noor Hisham said the government had inked agreements with several parties, including the Covid-19 vaccine global access (Covax) platform, to ensure Malaysia had sufficient supply of the vaccine.

Covax is managed by GAVI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation.

Pfizer will provide 12.8 million doses for the immunisation of 6.4 million Malaysians. The first batch of one million doses will be delivered 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. – November 27, 2020.