KUALA LUMPUR: The agreement to purchase 12.8 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine with pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc can be made void if the vaccine fails to be registered with the United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Health Ministry's National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this on his official Twitter page today.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysia has signed two agreements that guarantee Covid-19 vaccine access for 30 per cent of Malaysians.
This includes the deal with Pfizer, which was signed on Nov 24, involving the supply of vaccines for 6.4 million people.
Muhyiddin also stressed that Pfizer still needs the approval of the FDA and regulatory approval from the producing country, in addition to the NPRA, before it can be used in Malaysia.
In further tweets, Dr Noor Hisham said Malaysia is not getting vaccine supplies from just one company.
He was responding to a question from a Twitter user seeking clarification on why Malaysia is leaning towards Pfizer for vaccines, when the company is said to have a complicated vaccine storage mechanism when compared with other companies.
"We are trying to get vaccine supply from various sources. Not just one company," he said.
Earlier, Dr Noor Hisham also said on his Twitter account, @DGHisham, that he visited areas under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) at Jalan Teratai in Klang.
In the tweet, the Health director-general said he was briefed by the Klang district Health officer, Dr Masitah Mohamed, on the latest Covid-19 developments and management in the area.