Malaysia signs deal for 6.4m doses of AstraZeneca vaccine

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA has signed a deal to procure 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, and is in final talks with Chinese and Russian manufacturers to secure more, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday.

The South-east Asian country has already secured 12.8 million doses from its deal with Pfizer-BioNTech signed last month, as well as from its participation in the global COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

"This means that we have secured vaccine supplies to cover 40 per cent (of the population)," Mr Muhyiddin said in a televised address.

Malaysia expects to buy enough supplies to inoculate 26.5 million people, or more than 80 per cent of its people, Reuters reported.

The government is now in final negotiations with China-based manufacturers Sinovac and CanSino as well as Russia's Gamaleya Institute to cover the remainder, Mr Muhyiddin said.

The Malaysian leader said the agreements with Sinovac, CanSino and Gamaleya would also provide added value to the local science and technology sectors which would benefit the people and the country's development.

"This includes carrying out vaccine bottling processes in the country, research and development, as well as knowledge sharing and technology transfer, " he was quoted by The Star as saying.

The procurement deals are expected to cost US$504.4 million in total, he said.

In order to boost confidence in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, Mr Muhyiddin said he would be among the first to receive a dose, followed by frontliners and high-risk groups such as senior citizens.

The government expects to receive the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February, he added.

Malaysia was the first country in South-east Asia to strike a deal with the US drugmaker.

Under the Pfizer deal, it will receive one million doses in the first quarter of 2021 and 1.7 million, 5.8 million and 4.3 million doses in the subsequent quarters.

Singapore was the first Asian nation to take delivery of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday when its first batch arrived from Belgium.

The Malaysian government, in the meantime, will continue to hold talks with other pharmaceutical companies to ensure the country has adequate access to free vaccine supply.

Mr Muhyiddin added that the vaccines obtained will be ensured to be safe and effective.

The Prime Minister explained that the government is aware that efforts to prevent Covid-19 from spreading further are important to ensure that the economic situation of the people and the country can be improved as soon as possible.