KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will gather more information on the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccine and its side-effects when it is administered in the United Kingdom next week.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this was crucial for Malaysia to study the results for at least three months after the vaccine was administered.
He was responding to a question if Malaysia would speed up its vaccine distribution following UK's announcement to procure the vaccine issued by Pfizer-BioNTech as early as next week.
"We will have some time to monitor and observe any side effects and the effectiveness of the vaccine, which was not registered but released under the requirement of a state of emergency in the UK.
"In Malaysia, we have certain regulations that we need to go through, such as the Health Ministry's National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), aside from monitoring the vaccine and its side-effects.
"The biggest worry is the side effects. Whether it will happen or not, we will monitor the results for three months after the vaccine is administered. If the side effect is minimal, then we will be more confident to use it," he said.
Dr Noor Hisham said it was crucial to make decisions based on the data obtained from the vaccine's clinical trials.
The UK will be the first Western country to have the Covid-19 vaccine, which will prioritise groups particularly care home residents, healthcare staff, the elderly and the vulnerable.
The UK government recently accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for use.
On the preparation for flood season, Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry had addressed the matter with the state health department and the state disaster management committee.
He said measures had been taken by the ministry and the agencies involved on strategies to be used in the wake of the pandemic, if the flood worsens.