KUALA LUMPUR, August 16 — Caretaker Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced today that the government has procured over 87 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, equivalent to about 2.7 doses per person.
The purchase of the vaccines total RM4.36 billion and covers in excess of Malaysia’s entire 32.7 million population, Muhyiddin said in a televised address to the nation, when he announced his resignation as prime minister and his entire Cabinet after a meeting with the King earlier today.
The total Covid-19 vaccine doses procured include 44,799,300 doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford (6,400,000), Sinovac (20,400,000), CanSino (3,500,000), Sputnik (6,400,000) and global vaccine sharing facility COVAX (6,400,000), according to former Vaccine Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s speech to Parliament last July 28.
Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccine stock also includes donations from the United States (1,000,350 doses of Pfizer), the United Kingdom (415,000 doses of AstraZeneca), Japan (998,400 doses of AstraZeneca), China (500,000 doses of Sinovac), and Saudi Arabia (1,000,000 doses of AstraZeneca). Former Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said last Saturday that the UAE would donate a million doses of coronavirus vaccines, without specifying the brand.
“To all my fellow Malaysians, you don’t have to worry. My Cabinet has ordered more than enough vaccines for all of you. If the vaccination programme goes well, all of you will get vaccinated by the end of October,” Muhyiddin said.
“I hope the new government which takes over the administration of this country will take good care of all of you because it is the only thing that I care about. I care for you always.”
He stressed that it was important that the momentum of the country’s vaccination programme should not be disrupted. “Our record of the number of daily vaccinations are among the highest in the world and it must be maintained.”
“I hope a new government can be formed immediately so that the administration of this country is not disrupted and can run as usual. These next two months are very important as we are expected to achieve herd immunity in October.
“All the plans that have been outlined in the National Recovery Plan (NRP) must not be stunted. Economic sectors need to be reopened to ensure that the country’s economy can recover quickly and the people can generate income to support themselves and their families,” he said.
Malaysia currently has one of the fastest vaccination rates per capita in the world, with more than 400,000 doses administered per day. As of August 15, about 72.9 per cent of the country’s adult population has received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose, while 45.9 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
Muhyiddin said he is optimistic that the country will be able to get out of the pandemic crisis in the near future.
“I am excited to see the positive development of several hospitals in the Klang Valley where the number of Covid-19 patients in Categories Four and Five is declining. Hopefully, with the continuation of the vaccination programme, more lives can be saved and we can all return to normal life,” he said.
