Bamboo product manufacturer Kanger International Berhad, whose chairman is Johor Umno deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed, has signed a three-year licence agreement with China’s Sinopharm for its Covid-19 candidate vaccine.
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin says Malaysia is discussing with other international pharmaceutical companies to obtain a direct supply of a Covid-19 vaccine without having to join COVAX.
Khairy Jamaluddin says Malaysia cannot yet develop a Covid-19 vaccine because of the lack of facilities to produce human vaccines, prior focus on developing animal vaccines, and the early stage of Covid-19 vaccine research in Malaysia.
The Covid-19 pandemic is now shifting to decisions made outside our national borders, like vaccines and travel bubbles. Malaysia must actively participate in these global discussions.
COVAX’s all-inclusive price of US$10.55 per dose of Covid-19 vaccines is nearly seven times cheaper than China-owned Sinopharm’s experimental coronavirus vaccine at US$72.50 per dose.