KUALA LUMPUR: It is estimated that about 1.1 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine expired in April 2021 were destroyed.
This was revealed in the Auditor-General's Report 2021 Series 2.
Last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim highlighted the issue of expired vaccines when he announced that there were five to six million doses left in stock after expired doses were destroyed following poor demand.
The AG report further revealed that RM13 million was wasted in the procurement of 93 unusable ventilators.
Auditor-General Datuk Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid said the audit also found that nursing positions were not filled according to staffing requirements and failed to follow the level of care ratio.
The report further noted that state governments had not returned a sum of RM145 million secured from the National Trust Fund.
In December 2021, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who was then the Finance Minister told the Dewan Rakyat that the government had decided to use RM6 billion from the fund, a RM1 billion increase.
This, he said, was to ensure a sufficient supply of vaccines, including booster doses, for both the adult population and teenagers.
This fund, from which the government had made only one withdrawal since 1988, was allowed to be withdrawn during the emergency ordinance.