No hanky-panky in vaccine purchase, says health minister
PUTRAJAYA: Health minister Dr Adham Baba has refuted the notion that there was any “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…
PUTRAJAYA: Health minister Dr Adham Baba has refuted the notion that there was any “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.
The purchase of the Chinese vaccine involved a technology transfer from Sinovac to Pharmaniaga. The health ministry then purchased 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. — Free Malaysia Today