Malaysia has secured 12.8 million AstraZeneca doses – half from the Covax global vaccine-sharing scheme and half from the AstraZeneca manufacturer in Thailand.
In a statement today, the ministry said the decision to approve the vaccine produced by the Covax facility was based on the approval it received for emergency use from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Feb 15.
“This conditional approval requires the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) to monitor and evaluate additional and up-to-date data on the vaccine from time to time. This will ensure its effectiveness and safety, and that its benefits outweigh its potential risks,” it said.
There were previously fears that Malaysia would discontinue its AstraZeneca programme following reports the vaccine caused blood clots.
However, National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin later said the rollout would continue as planned as AstraZeneca said it had yet to find data linking the vaccine to reports of blood clots, which had resulted in several deaths.
Malaysia will be receiving its first batch of 600,000 AstraZeneca doses, procured directly from the manufacturer in Thailand, in June. The vaccine received conditional approval on March 2.
Malaysia has agreed to purchase 66.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from various drug makers and plans to vaccinate at least 80% of the population by February next year.
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