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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has agreed to buy 12.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to announce a deal with the US pharmaceutical company after some expressed reservations about the need for ultra-cold storage .
While final trial data showed Pfizer’s vaccine to be 95% effective, many Asian countries are not betting on it in part due to tropical heat, remote island communities, and a lack of ultra-cold freezers.
The Pfizer vaccine, developed jointly with German partner BioNTech, should be stored and shipped at -70 degrees Celsius, although it can be kept in a refrigerator for up to five days, or up to 15 days in a thermal shipping box.
READ: Malaysia on China’s COVID-19 Vaccine Priority Recipient List: PM Muhyiddin
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday (November 27) that Malaysia would prioritize “high-risk groups … including the front-line, the elderly, and those with non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.”
Pfizer will deliver the first million doses in the first quarter of 2021, with 1.7 million, 5.8 million and 4.3 million doses in the following quarters.
The deal is expected to cover 6.4 million Malaysians, or 20 percent of the population, and another 10 percent will be covered by Malaysia’s participation in the global COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization. .
Malaysia, which will distribute the vaccine to its population free of charge, reported 1,109 new COVID-19 infections on Friday.
READ: Businesses and residents near Top Glove dormitories on edge, as COVID-19 cases rise among workers
The new cases bring the country’s account to 61,861 cases.
Malaysia’s chief health officer, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, said Sabah accounted for the most new cases, with 441, followed by 175 from Selangor and 167 from Negeri Sembilan.
The Teratai group, which is linked to workers at the Top Glove factory, was cited as the main reason for the daily four-figure COVID-19 cases in Malaysia.
The group, announced on November 7, involves the Klang, Petaling and Hulu Langat districts in Selangor.
Two more deaths were also announced, bringing the total deaths to 350. There are currently 113 cases in the intensive care unit, and 41 require respiratory assistance.
Malaysia also posted another 1,148 recoveries on Friday.
The country also plans to conduct a phase 3 trial of an experimental vaccine developed by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The trial will have the participation of 3,000 participants.
Pfizer’s vaccine still requires approval from regulators, including the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Malaysian Ministry of Health before it can be distributed, Muhyiddin said during a televised speech.
The FDA has a meeting scheduled for December 10 to discuss whether to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use.
Pfizer and BioNTech have supply agreements with several countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain.
READ: Malaysia’s Top Glove Says COVID-19 Outbreak May Drive Prices Up After Factory Closures
They expect to produce up to 50 million doses of vaccines globally in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.
More than 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested globally to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, with 48 in human trials, says the WHO.
This week, AstraZeneca said its Oxford University-developed vaccine could be around 90 percent effective, following positive results from Pfizer, Moderna and Russia’s Sputnik V.
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