[ad_1]
KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) – Malaysia said on Saturday (December 19) that it has obtained the coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca PLC, following news that it will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February as it battles an increase in infections.
The AstraZeneca agreement, to be signed on Monday, will allow the immunization of around 20 percent of Malaysia’s population of 32 million, similar to the agreement with US giant Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE, the Health Minister said , Adham Baba.
The Southeast Asian nation has seen an increase in cases since September, with nearly 92,000 cases of the new coronavirus and 433 deaths from Covid-19.
Malaysia hopes to receive enough vaccines to inoculate 10 percent of the population through the Covax global facility, supported by the World Health Organization, it said in a statement.
The government is working to secure more deals to expand vaccination to 70 percent of the population, Datuk Seri Adham said.
“The important thing is which company can give us quick access to their vaccine and that it must be safe, effective and of high quality,” he said.
The government expects to receive the first batch of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February, Bernama said.
Last month, Malaysia announced that it had agreed to buy 12.8 million doses of the vaccine, becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to reach an agreement with the US pharmaceutical.
Under the agreement, 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.
Pfizer and its German partners BioNTech have supply agreements with several countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain.
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, the WHO says.
[ad_2]
