KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — The federal government has distributed to states just over 55 per cent of 87.9 million Covid-19 vaccine doses procured, with lagging deliveries of orders from AstraZeneca, COVAX, and CanSino.
Deputy Health Minister II Aaron Agong Dagang, in Parliament today, said 51,593,462 doses had been delivered to all 13 states and three federal territories as of October 8, comprising 28,014,408 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (54 per cent of total delivery), 19,661,884 Sinovac doses (38 per cent), 3,619,900 AstraZeneca-Oxford doses (7 per cent), and 297,270 CanSino doses (0.6 per cent).
The federal government’s 87.9 million-order for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK), as of September 13, consist of 44.8 million Pfizer doses, 6.4 million AstraZeneca doses via direct purchase, another 6.4 million AstraZeneca doses from the COVAX facility, 20.4 million Sinovac doses, 3.5 million CanSino doses, and 6.4 million Sputnik V doses.
Based on figures of vaccine distribution to states that Aaron provided, Malaysia has only distributed 60.3 per cent of Pfizer orders, 93.9 per cent of Sinovac, 12.8 per cent of AstraZeneca’s direct procurement, 21.7 per cent of COVAX, and 8.5 per cent of CanSino.
These distribution figures closely match the number of doses delivered to Malaysia by suppliers, with only less than 5 per cent of deliveries still in stock, the Ministry of Health (MOH) told CodeBlue.
The 87.9 million coronavirus vaccine doses were procured for RM4.64 billion, including the cost of logistics of distribution.
The state with the highest number of Covid-19 vaccines received is Selangor, the country’s most populous state, with 8,590,516 doses, followed by Johor with 5,803,290 doses, and Sabah with 5,662,496 doses.
The 51.59 million Covid-19 vaccine doses delivered to states included vaccines donated by the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and China, Aaron said.
He said this in response to Batu Kawan MP Kashturi Patto’s question on the amount of Covid-19 vaccine doses procured by Malaysia and their distribution to states to date.
It was previously stated in Parliament that the government has so far received 2,913,750 Covid-19 vaccine doses through donations from Japan (998,400 AstraZeneca doses), the United States (1,000,350 Pfizer doses), China (500,000 Sinovac doses), and the United Kingdom (415,000 AstraZeneca doses), with a logistics cost amounting to RM5.77 million.
Malaysia is also expected to receive an additional 1.1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from Singapore (100,000 Pfizer doses) and Saudi Arabia (1 million AstraZeneca doses).
The government has also placed orders for Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine via the COVAX facility, though it is still awaiting confirmation on the number of doses to be received. Unicef Malaysia previously said on September 20 that a total of 1,387,200 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to Malaysia through COVAX, including a third shipment of 559,200 AstraZeneca doses delivered on September 17.
Meanwhile, the Moderna and Sinopharm vaccines are not included in procurement for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).
“The government is bound by non-disclosure agreements (NDA), which are a condition of confidentiality set by vaccine manufacturing companies, that prevents details of the agreement from being disclosed, including the price of the vaccine.
“However, the procurement cost for each vaccine has been explained to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), held on August 2, 2021,” Aaron said.
