THE government must make public all clinical trial data submitted to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) for all approved Covid-19 vaccines, the Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC) said.

The group also called for more transparency and inclusivity in the national Covid-19 immunisation programme, adding that the success of the programme depends on everyone’s participation.

“We also propose establishing an independent adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) review committee that reports to the NPRA and can contribute to combating misinformation,” the group said in a statement today.

“All data related to Covid-19 vaccines should be accessible via a central repository such as the one created by the US Centres for Disease Control.

“Finally, as the MySejahtera app is constantly being updated, users must be assured that their information is recorded and protected in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act 2010,” it added.

The MHC noted that vaccine confidence was still very low as only 12% of the population had registered as of March 8.

“It is time for the government to act on, not just talk about, improving vaccine confidence for Malaysia.

“The approach must be multilingual, multiplatform, and multipronged, involving community leaders of all backgrounds,” the MHC said.

The coalition called for more proactive efforts to improve overall science and health literacy by making facts available to all.

It said high science literacy would help combat misinformation, pseudoscience and fake products, while calling on the government to ensure there was vaccine equity and independence.

“We welcome the government’s decision to allow private general practitioners to administer Covid-19 vaccines, especially to B40 communities.

“We urge the government to also establish partnerships with private hospitals so all hands can be on deck to ensure available vaccines are administered as soon as possible.

“At the same time, all government agencies must maintain independence during the rollout, and not yield to lobby and interest groups,” it said. – March 11, 2021.