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PETALING JAYA: The Ministry of Health will observe the use of a Covid-19 vaccine in the UK, which announced a launch of the drug from Pfizer-BioNTech starting next week.
Health Director General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the UK’s regulatory agency for medicines and health products allowed the use of the vaccine even though it was not registered.
“Because it is an emergency, they allow the use of the vaccine,” he said yesterday during a daily Covid-19 briefing.
“Malaysia does not have any exclusions from the vaccine registry during an emergency and any vaccine would have to go through the various processes as determined in the Law that governs it,” he added.
Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia could observe the efficacy and side effects of the vaccine in other countries while continuing with the registration process.
“The company would send a vaccine dossier to the Ministry of Health and the amount of time we take is to see its safety, efficacy and quality.
“Registration is done through the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA),” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham added that if the use of the vaccine in the UK in the first three months was encouraging and there were not many reports of side effects, Malaysia would be more confident to use the vaccine.
However, he said Malaysia would have to wait for the results of the third phase of a clinical trial before making a decision.
“Our agreement for the vaccine is that it must be registered with the Food and Drug Administration and the NPRA,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysia reported 851 new Covid-19 infections yesterday, with 68,020 cumulative cases recorded since the start of the pandemic.
The Klang Valley recorded the highest number of infections with 334, with Selangor recording 249 cases, followed by Sabah (229), Johor (102), Kuala Lumpur (85), Negri Sembilan (62), Penang (60), Perak ( 34) and Kedah (26).
The number of recoveries is less than new cases with 658 patients discharged in the last 24 hours.
In total, 56,969 patients or 83.8% have recovered from Covid-19 in the country, while active cases now stand at 10,686.
Dr. Noor Hisham said there were two new deaths from Covid-19, bringing the country’s death toll to 365.
“Currently 122 people are being treated in intensive care units, and 47 of them require respiratory assistance,” he said.
Dr. Noor Hisham added that there was no shortage of beds with enough to accommodate Covid-19 patients, especially those considered in critical stages.
He also said that those with no or mild symptoms accounted for nearly 94% of cases, and were placed in quarantine and low-risk treatment centers.
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