SHAH ALAM – Pharmaniaga Bhd (Pharmaniaga) assures the COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac produced by Chinese pharmaceutical company, Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd (Sinovac), is safe, effective and halal.
Pharmaniaga Research and Development Division head, Dr Badarulhisam Abdul Rahman, said the vaccine produced using inactive virus technology is the most effective and proven method for the past 40 years.
“The same method is also used for the production of vaccines for dangerous diseases such as Polio and Hepatitis A. This technology has proven to be effective compared to other new technologies whose risks are not yet known,” he said when presenting the development of the vaccine virtually, today.
Also participating in the presentation session was Pharmaniaga Group managing director, Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope.
However, Dr Badarulhisam said confusion about the effectiveness of the vaccine arose after clinical studies in the two countries showed Turkey had a score of 91.25 per cent while Brazil had 50.38 per cent.
He explained that the study in Turkey can be seen as a benchmark for the effectiveness of the CoronaVac vaccine because it was tested on the general population involving 13,000 individuals aged 18 and above compared to Brazil which tested it on 13,060 health workers exposed to the COVID-19 virus daily.
“However, the study in Turkey will only be completed early this month. But we believe that the level of effectiveness will exceed 90 per cent, which is above the 50 per cent standard set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for a vaccine to be registered,” he said.
No serious side effects
Dr Badarulhisam added that through the clinical study, no serious side effects including ‘Vaccine Enhance Disease’ were detected after two doses of the vaccine were given to the participants and the majority only experienced mild reactions.
In the meantime, Zulkarnain said Pharmaniaga had researched the contents, formulas and methods the vaccine was produced and was confident that it was halal to use as stated by the Indonesian Ulamak Council.
He also expects the CoronaVac vaccine to be approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA) by the end of this month or early March before being distributed in April.
“According to the agreement, Pharmaniaga will supply 12 million doses of this vaccine. In the first month, we will supply one million doses of CoronaVac vaccine followed by two million doses in the next month to be distributed by the government,” he said.
Asked whether Pharmaniaga might sell the vaccine to the private sector, especially to industries for the use of their foreign workers, Zulkarnain said the matter was discussed with the government.
“We are currently in talks with the government (to sell CoronaVac) because after supplying 12 million doses of the vaccine, Pharmaniaga will still have a supply of another two million doses. However, the government has requested that the vaccine be given to government-linked companies (GLCs) which are ‘economic fronliners’ as well as foreign workers and expatriates.
“Pharmaniaga is also gathering information about it and once completed, we will negotiate how it will be carried out. However, the distribution of vaccines for Malaysians is our priority at this time,” he said.
On Jan 12, Pharmaniaga signed an agreement with Sinovac to supply 14 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the bottling process of which was done at a high-tech factory in Puchong, Selangor.
On Jan 26, Pharmaniaga signed an agreement to supply 12 million doses of CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine to the Ministry of Health Malaysia.
Vaccine plans on track
The European Union (EU) and Belgium meanwhile have given assurances to fulfil their vaccine supply agreements with Malaysia, said Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar.
Khairy, in a statement today, said with the assurances of both the EU and Belgian Ambassadors, Malaysia’s COVID-19 immunisation plan is expected to proceed according to plan.
He said the Special Committee on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) took note of the recent announcement on export controls by the EU of the COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the EU.
“Today I held discussions with EU Ambassador to Malaysia Michalis Rokas and the Belgian Ambassador to Malaysia, Pascal H. Gregoire, for further clarification regarding the status of these vaccine deliveries to Malaysia.
“With regards to the Pfizer vaccine that is manufactured in Puurs, Belgium, the Belgian Ambassador has given his assurances that our Advance Purchase Agreement with Pfizer will be fulfilled upon Pfizer applying for export authorisation and the vaccines will be delivered on schedule beginning this month.
“The government of Malaysia has therefore asked that Pfizer request approval for immediate export approval from the government of Belgium,” he said, adding that the EU and Belgian Embassies in Malaysia will be releasing statements regarding these supply assurances.
The minister further said the first shipment of one million doses (coverage for 500,000) of the Pfizer vaccine will be used in Phase One of inoculation for frontliners and will be delivered in stages over the first quarter of this year.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was reported as saying yesterday that Malaysia was expected to receive the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Feb 26.
Trade Centre offered as vaccination centre
The World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) in a related development, will offer its facilities and services as a vaccination centre to support the government to vaccinate 70 per cent of the nation’s population.
Its executive director Datuk Seri Dr Irmohizam Ibrahim said the decision to provide the hall space was in line with the national vaccination plan scheduled to begin this month.
He said WTCKL, formerly known as Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) with a capacity of 13,456 square metres comprising five halls and 19 multi-purpose rooms, was sufficient to assist the vaccination process.
According to him, WTCKL is a very strategic location to be used as a vaccination centre because it offers ample space with facilities such as parking, different entrances and has a waiting area and vaccination zone.
“We aim to help reduce the burden of public health facilities and help ensure that the recovery process runs smoothly,” he said in a statement today.
He added that the initiative is also expected to help health centres reduce overhead and logistics costs by offering the use of space at WTCKL as a place to store vaccines, health equipment and medical supplies.
