DIVERSIFY sources for COVID-19 vaccines instead of relying on Pfizer alone, said former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye.
“Moderna has also produced a COVID-19 vaccine. AstraZeneca recently announced that it has also produced a vaccine.
“Russia has produced its own vaccine and China has between two and three produced, which has been administered on its population,” he told FocusM.
Last week, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the Government had signed a preliminary purchasing agreement with Pfizer, to obtain 12.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to meet the immunisation needs of 6.4 million Malaysians.
The agreement, signed on Nov 24, was aimed at ensuring the Government had access to data to assess the vaccine’s quality, safety and effectiveness and at the same time, ensuring access once it was ready for distribution.
However, several groups have questioned the Government haste in inking the deal, citing lack of conclusive data on its effectiveness.
They have also questioned whether Malaysia has the logistical capability to store and disburse the vaccine on a mass scale, citing the need to store the vaccine under -80 degrees Celcius temperature.
As other medical groups, Lee cautioned the Government not to get too dependent on the Pfizer vaccine as the latter’s efficacy was questionable.
“The safety, efficacy and cost effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine is far from proven. The data released by its chief executive officer has not been subjected to peer review by specialists.
“Furthermore, the number enrolled is still small (43,000) considering the use of vaccines which are supposed to be given to healthy individuals to protect them from infection,” said the Gopeng MP.
Deal with anti-vaxxers
Lee added that the Government should also take note on how long the vaccine protection would last, once administered, and whether it would cause adverse side-effects on those who take them.
To make the vaccine work, Lee said the Government should ensure at least 70% of the population are vaccinated.
“We need to prioritise the high-risk groups, such as our frontliners, those above the age of 60 and people suffering from chronic ailments.
“And for all that to happen, we need to neutralise pushback from the anti-vaccine groups,” said Lee, who is also a cardiologist.
On concerns the Pfizer vaccine was of genetically modified organism (GMO), Lee said the vaccine was advantageous as it would not enter the host’s nucleus.
“It’s a mRNA vaccine not DNA vaccine. mRNA does not need to enter the host cell nucleus in order to be transcribed.
“This means the dosage of vaccine can be significantly lower and no special delivery mechanisms are required. Plus, there is no risk of DNA integrating into the host cell genome, avoiding concerns about the possibility of insertional mutagenesis (mutation),” he said.
On concerns that the vaccine only suppresses symptoms of COVID-19 instead of deterring it, Lee said the vaccine contains messenger RNA which produces proteins of the virus.
“The protein is essential for the virus to enter human cells. It triggers immune response from body and produce antibodies to neutralise the protein.
“So when the virus in unable to enter human cells, it will die off and incapacitates further transmission,” he added. – Nov 30, 2020.
