PRIVATE hospitals and state governments can only buy the three vaccines – Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac – approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), said Khairy Jamaluddin. 

“They can try to get the vaccines from the suppliers but Pfizer and AstraZeneca only deal with the federal government,” said the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister during a press conference today. 

“As for Sinovac, they have to fulfil the federal government’s orders before they can supply to other private entities or state governments. They have to prioritise the national immunisation programme,” said Khairy.

To date, NPRA has only approved the Covid-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac. 

Khairy was responding to Penang and Sarawak governments’ plan to purchase the Covid-19 vaccines by themselves. 

Besides Penang and Sarawak, the Selangor government also said private companies can also procure the vaccines by themselves to vaccinate their workers.

Meanwhile, Khairy said Covid-19 vaccine donors are free to donate to the state or federal governments. 

Clarifying his remarks, Khairy said: “Donating to the federal government is just an option. 

“More importantly is that whatever source the vaccine is coming from, it has to be approved by the Health Ministry or NPRA.” 

Last week, a businessman based in Sabah had “offered” to purchase vaccines for the Penang state. 

Khairy, following investigations by his ministry, however had revealed that the “offer” was bogus. 

“The offer is bogus. It is completely untrue. We checked with Sinovac and they have no dealings with the company. We checked with company records in Hong Kong, and the company does not exist. No one even knows who Yong Chee Kong is,” said the minister last week. – May 25, 2021.