KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (NNN-Bernama) — The selection of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by international pharmaceutical company Pfizer is based on an interim report of clinical trials of its effectiveness level, which is 95 percent, the Dewan Rakyat (lower house of Parliament) was told Thursday.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the report was published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Dec 10, and even the government had access to the data to assess the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
“The vaccine has also received the Emergency Use Authorisation from seven countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Singapore.
“However, the final decision for the purchase, as well as the use, of the vaccine in Malaysia is subject to registration and approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA) of the Ministry of Health,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time.
Apart from that, he said the Special Committee on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Access, which was established earlier, was also considering other vaccines that are in phase three of clinical trials for the purpose of herd immunity of up to 70 percent of the country’s total population.
An announcement on the matter and a list of priority vaccine recipients will be made soon, he added.
Khairy said this in response to a question from Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) regarding the cost, effectiveness, vaccine coverage and side effects of the vaccine, as well as the rationale for the selection of the vaccine by Pfizer.
— NNN-BERNAMA
