A TASK force has been formed to draw up a white paper on the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021, the Health Ministry said.

Its minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said this follows a decision made during a cabinet meeting on January 18 after initial findings from due diligence carried out were revealed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Legal Affairs Division under the Prime Minister’s Department.  

“The two agencies had conducted detailed due diligence into the vaccine supply terms signed and made when the country was in a state of emergency,” said Zaliha in a statement.

She added that the white paper is to look into whether the procurement process was done in a transparent manner or otherwise.

The minister gave her assurance that any procurement under her watch is being carried out with integrity to ensure that they benefit the government.

On Wednesday Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said a white paper on the improper procurement of the Covid-19 vaccine by the previous government will be tabled in the coming parliament session.

He said the procurement was done by the health minister at the time without the agreement of the attorney-general. 

Both the vaccine procurement process and the emergency declaration took place during the tenure of then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin also approved a total of RM5 billion from the National Trust Fund to be used to expedite the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021.

Ex-health minister Khairy Jamaluddin recently told The Star that the government had approved all Covid-19 vaccine procurements, and this was even confirmed by the Public Accounts Committee which looked into the matter. – February 10, 2023.