HEALTH officials are not involved in selling Covid-19 vaccines to syndicates, Khairy Jamaluddin said today.

The minister in charge of the immunisation effort also denied claims health workers on the frontlines were selling jabs was untrue.

Reports have emerged on social medial of health officials giving blank vaccine shots purportedly saving the doses for sale on the black market.

It’s not true that our frontliners have been selling vaccines to syndicates. We have investigated the matter and the police have concluded that there is no such thing.

“No one is selling vaccines to syndicates,” he said in a virtual press conference.

Khairy said his office had received 13 police reports on empty syringe claims, which had mostly been disproved.

“I am not belittling the reports, we are taking the matter seriously. However, of the 13 police reports, some have been solved and the persons involved have been asked to delete the post on social media after finding the truth was revealed.

“They claimed that they felt no side effects and thus concluded that they were not vaccinated. I would like to tell you that side effects vary. You might get them and you might not get them,” he said.

However, Khairy said there was a case in Sungai Petani in which a health official had admitted using an empty syringe on a recipient due to fatigue.

“The official admitted that the syringe was empty but that she had (made the error due to fatigue from a) heavy workload. A warning was given and she will face disciplinary action.

“There were also two cases where we gave extra doses because there was a misunderstanding. We do not blame the frontliners, we understand the risks and the work they are doing,” said Khairy.

Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali last week promised a full investigation into the claims of people receiving blank jabs.

“This is not the time to joke around. I strongly disagree with and deeply regret the bad news. Apart from worrying about the increase and spread of the Covid-19 cases, we are also worried about the spread of fake news,” he told a press conference after visiting the Selama vaccination centre.

A video of a man being injected with an empty syringe had recently gone viral.

The man, who lodged a police report over the incident, said he had recorded himself getting the shot and had only realised that the syringe was empty when he watched the playback. – July 23, 2021.