PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh says demand for Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine peaked in August and September last year during the Delta surge, not when the vaccine price caps were imposed in January earlier this year.
Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali says 123,053 Covid-19 cases were reported among children aged under 12 this year as of March 5, including some who were hospitalised or admitted to ICU.
Senior citizens and Sinovac primer vaccine adult recipients who fail to get their booster dose by March 31 will see their fully vaccinated status lapse.
As of Feb 16, only 7.1 million of 10 million people fully vaccinated with Sinovac have received boosters, leaving about 3 million adults who will lose their fully vax status on March 1 without a 3rd jab.
MOH's ICR cites 4 studies in HK, Brazil, Chile, and Malaysia that find a Pfizer booster for Sinovac recipients is more effective against Covid-19, especially Omicron, than a 3rd Sinovac dose.
At the current Covid-19 booster rate, 3.2mil Sinovac recipients and nearly a million seniors, including those primed with Sinovac, will lose their fully vax status on March 1 without a third jab.
The ceiling retail prices of RM77 and RM61 per dose for Sinovac and Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines respectively exclude charges for services and disposable equipment in private health care facilities.