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KUALA LUMPUR, September 19 – The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) clarified today that Malaysia will sign up for the global Covid-19 vaccine development platform Covax.
The ministry in a statement said today that the government is currently discussing terms to join the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi), which manages the Covax initiative.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) urged the government to explain why Malaysia has not yet joined the Covax Vaccination Scheme co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO).
MMA President Dr N. Ganabaskaran said the association believes that even if Malaysia has its own bilateral negotiations for a vaccine, enrolling in the Covax Vaccine Plan may be an additional option that will ensure access to vaccines for Covid-19.
Explaining the problem, Mosti said that the government is also preparing the agreement to join the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemics and Preparedness (Cepi) and government-to-government agreements with Beijing for access to vaccines to be developed by pharmaceutical companies. in China.
“The Ministry of Health has signed confidentiality agreements with several international pharmaceutical companies that are in phase three of their vaccine trials.
“Malaysia’s approach of joining Covax, forming strategic partnerships with other countries and negotiating directly with pharmaceutical companies will ensure that Malaysia gets a sufficient supply of the vaccine.
“This will ensure that the Covid-19 vaccine is acquired quickly and at an affordable price once it has been shown to be safe and effective,” the Ministry said, adding that it will coordinate the agreement on behalf of the government.
Ganabaskaran said yesterday that Putrajaya should be more transparent about its plans to procure Covid-19 vaccines for the country after Malaysia was reported to be not on the list of 172 countries that have signed up for Covax.
He said that people deserve to know why Malaysia has not joined the Covax initiative, as the deadline for countries planning to participate ended yesterday.
