THE doctor named in the Asia Sentinel report as one of them who allegedly administered the unapproved Sinopharm vaccine to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, his family and friends, has denied the report.

Dr Hanafiah Harunarashid from Hospital Chancellor Tuanku Muhriz (HUKM) said on Twitter that he did not wish to make any statement regarding the story as it was untrue.

“I forgive the writer and whoever was involved (in this article) ,” he said in a tweet, in response to an earlier tweet by his friend, Dr Rafidah Abdullah.

“I have nothing to say because it is just not true. May Allah accept all our deeds.”

Dr Rafidah took to Twitter to slam Asia Sentinel for accusing Dr Hanafiah and Dr Zulkarnain Ishmail from the Gleneagles Hospital for administering the unapproved China-made Sinopharm vaccine to the King, his family members and close friends.

The portal also reported that Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was alleged to have ordered a raid on both doctors’ offices and the vaccine was found in Zulkarnain’s possession.

This came about after Dr Noor Hisham learnt that the Ministry of Health was instructed to issue yellow booklets to show these people had been vaccinated and possibly allowing them to travel to countries that would accept the booklet.

Dr Noor Hisham allegedly stopped it upon being warned that it was criminal as the Chinese vaccine had not been approved by the government, the report stated.

Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba refuted Asia Sentinel’s report, calling it “baseless”.

Dr Adham had said the purchases of vaccines for the country went through stringent assessment by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.

“After the stringent assessment, it will then receive approval from the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force. Not just that, we made sure all vaccines purchased are safe,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“Where did the writer get the story? He is trying to create a negative perception of Malaysia.”

The report also alleged the involvement of top Malaysian leaders, including Dr Adham, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin and Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

It was said that the King obtained the Sinopharm vaccine from the United Arab Emirates’ Prince Mohamed Nayan, the King’s classmate when both were students in the United Kingdom. The King was allegedly given an additional 2,000 doses for his family and friends back home.

The article also claimed that apart from the King, Hishammuddin and Attorney-General Idrus Harun were given the Sinopharm vaccine, although the vaccine has yet to receive approval in Malaysia. – April 19, 2021.