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PETALING JAYA: A consumer group has urged the government to clarify its purchase agreement for the Covid-19 vaccine with the pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer Inc.
The Penang Consumers Association (CAP) said concerns have been raised around the world regarding the efficacy of the vaccine.
“The scientific community has expressed concern about the vaccine’s emergency use authorizations (US),” CAP President Mohideen Abdul Kader said today in a statement.
He said that while the US has been issued sparingly for treatments like H1N1 and Zika, the Covid-19 vaccine is the first of its kind to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Vaccines differ from other medical products in that they are widely deployed and in healthy people, so the bar for approval is high.
“That is why CAP is doubly concerned about the condition that Pfizer imposes on advance purchase agreements like the one signed with Malaysia: that the company be indemnified from liability for its vaccine,” he said.
He also pointed to Pfizer’s involvement in various lawsuits related to healthcare fraud, failure to warn of substantial risks in drugs, and illegal marketing as additional reasons for scrutiny.
He cited media reports that drug makers in Europe, including Pfizer, have insisted on compensation for government liability for side effects.
Mohideen said it was “disturbing” that the US government had taken responsibility for such side effects and asked if Malaysia would do the same.
“We would also ask if this compensation is also required by the other vaccine companies in negotiations with the government.”
He warned that if the government took responsibility, citizens would be the ones to pay the price.
On November 24, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the government had signed an agreement with Pfizer to purchase 12.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
Muhyiddin said the health ministry also signed an agreement with the global Covax facility to obtain vaccines for another 10% of the population.
He had ensured that the vaccines used would meet the strict conditions established by the National Agency for Pharmaceutical Regulation.
On December 2, Chief Health Officer Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said the government would not approve the Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.
