CANSINO and Sinovac vaccines will be used to step up vaccination in six states that have yet to vaccinate 50% of their adult population, said Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Minister Dr Adham Baba.

He said the country would be acquiring three million doses of the CanSino vaccine, which requires only one dose, up to the end of the year, while the additional supply of six million doses of the Sinovac vaccine is sufficient to achieve herd immunity.

“The CanSino vaccine is a breakthrough in the prime minister’s view, as we won’t have to wait if there is delay by the supplier (as) we have made a manufacturing and supply agreement with them.

“CanSino can be used in areas that are difficult to reach and (too) remote for (the) two-dose vaccination,” he said after his first working visiting to the fill and finish factory of Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd (SolBio) for Convidicea CanSino vaccine in Bukit Jalil today.

Adham said Malaysia had purchased 3.5 million doses of the CanSino vaccine, and from the total, three million doses are for the purpose of ‘fill and finish’ while the remaining 500,000 doses will be received in bulk form from CanSino China.

He said 200,000 doses of this vaccine had been received and distributed to states with low rate of vaccination to speed up the process of achieving herd immunity up to the end of next month and added that 300,000 CanSino vaccine doses will be received in September.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday gave the Health Ministry and MOSTI up to the end of September to ensure the six states achieve 50% Covid-19 vaccination of the adult population.

As at yesterday, the six states with vaccination below 50% were Perak (46.9%), Terengganu (46.8%), Johor (46.1%), Kedah (44.2%), Kelantan (43.9%) and Sabah (38%).

SolBio had signed a bulk product to ready product agreement with CanSino Biologics Inc of China to supply Recombinant Ad5-nCoV or Convidecia vaccine.

Meanwhile, commenting on the government’s intention to make Malaysia a Covid-19 vaccine producing country, Adham said the ministry would be launching the national vaccine roadmap soon.

“The National Vaccine Development Roadmap is now in the final draft preparation.

“Research and development (R&D) of the vaccine would be one of the top priorities of MOSTI soon so that the country has the capability to produce its own vaccine… for the country’s health and economy,” he said. – Bernama, August 30, 2021.