HomeNewsBeritaBusinessLifestyleOpinionWorldSportsPropertyEducationCarzillaGalleryVideosAccelerator

No hanky-panky in vaccine purchase, says health minister

-

Health minister Dr Adham Baba says government purchased the vaccines either directly from the manufacturers or on a ‘fill and finish’ basis as it did in the case of Sinovac’s vaccine.

0
Shares
Total Views: 1
Free Malaysia Today
The purchase of Sinovac vaccines, seen here arriving at KLIA on Saturday, involved a technology transfer from the Chinese manufacturer to Pharmaniaga. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA:
Health minister Dr Adham Baba has denied allegations of “hanky-panky” in the government’s purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, saying the procurement process was transparent.

Adham told FMT the RM3 billion allocation for the vaccine was contained in this year’s federal budget and that the purchase was made after the vaccines were approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and the Drug Control Authority.

He was responding to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s call for transparency and updates on how the allocation for vaccines had been spent.

Adham said the government purchased the vaccines either directly from the manufacturers or on a “fill and finish” basis as it did in the case of Sinovac’s vaccine.

Free Malaysia Today
Dr Adham Baba

The purchase of the Chinese vaccine involved a technology transfer from Sinovac to Pharmaniaga. The health ministry will then purchase the finished vaccines from Pharmaniaga.

“Both Khairy Jamaluddin and I, as the joint chair of the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV), have already explained the procurement process in detail to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC),” he said, after attending prayers at Masjid Putra in conjunction with Perikatan Nasional’s one-year anniversary last night.

Adham also said the government will continue to improve the public health system and increase the number of frontliners as needed.

“We are now on the right track to flatten the Covid-19 curve,” he said, adding the vaccination programme would help develop herd immunity.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.