IN order to speed up the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme (PICK), former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged the Government to purchase more vaccines from the US.
“In April, I did call for Putrajaya to talk the US Government to buy their COVID-19 vaccines, which are in excess.
“Even at the time, the US had almost completed inoculating their citizens and they have a lot of vaccines in their stocks,” he said in a Facebook post.
Many quarters have complained that Malaysia vaccination rollout has been slow and poorly coordinated, with some reports saying that Malaysia will only achieve “herd immunity” in several years time.
In April, Coordinating Minister for PICK Khairy Jamaluddin claimed that the problem was attributed to low supply of vaccines, as rich nations purchase between three to five times more than their need.
He added that pharmaceutical companies also seemed to prioritise wealthier nations but did not elaborate on the reasons.
“That is also why Malaysia has had to balance our COVID-19 vaccine portfolio to include Pfizer, AstraZeneca but also those from non-Western countries like Sinovac (China).
“Based on delivery schedules we have received from our suppliers, we will start getting a more steady and ample supply of vaccines from June onwards. This is when I project mass vaccinations will be in full swing,” he was reported saying.
To resolve the matter, the Malaysian Pharmacists Society (MPS) urged the Government to rope in community pharmacists to hasten PICK.
“Pharmacists from the private sector should also be roped in immediately for the vaccination roll out to increase accessibility of vaccines and improve vaccination rate,” its president Amrahi Buang was reported saying.
Don’t beg, buy at market price
Najib said that on Monday, US President Joe Biden had announced that they would ship out their 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to deserving nations, based on certain criteria.
He added that based on current new infections and deaths data, Malaysia was in a more dire situation compared to the US and India.
“Therefore, I believe Malaysia stands a chance to get prioritised in getting vaccines from the US. Yesterday, Thailand announced that the US had agreed to help them out, despite their COVID-19 cases being not bad as ours,” the Pekan MP stated.
He also urged Putrajaya to engage the UK too as the latter was also finishing up its mass vaccination programme, with many vaccines left in excess.
“This is not about begging from them. Let’s purchase the vaccines based on market price. Talk to them and see what transpires,” he urged. – June 3, 2021
