Moh Must Explain Why Malaysia Yet To Sign Who S Covid 19 Vaccine Plan Mma

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The Health Ministry has a responsibility to explain to the rakyat why Malaysia has not signed on for the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Covid-19 Vaccine Plan (Covax), said Malaysian Medical Association (MAA) president N Ganabaskaran.
"Malaysia is not among the 172 countries that have signed up and today (Sept 18) is the deadline.
"The MMA believes that even if Malaysia has its own bilateral negotiations for a vaccine, signing up for Covax can be an added option that will guarantee access to vaccines for Covid-19," he said in a statement today.
He urged the ministry to be transparent on its plans to acquire vaccines for the country.
"The rakyat have a right to know and the government has a duty to keep the country informed," he added.
Yesterday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that more than 170 countries had joined the organisation's global plan to distribute vaccines fairly around the world.
Tedros said the countries involved were “gaining guaranteed access to the world’s largest portfolio of vaccine candidates.”
WHO previously said that 92 lower-income nations were seeking assistance via the scheme and some 80 higher-income countries had expressed interest though some still had yet to confirm their intention by the deadline.


Yesterday, when asked if Malaysia had committed to joining Covax before the deadline, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba told health website CodeBlue: “We are still communicating with WHO."
Ganabaskaran called for more clarity over the matter.
"The health minister must respond now or he may have to answer to the rakyat later as to why Malaysia is last in the queue for the vaccines," he said.
"Even if the ministry needs more time beyond the Covax deadline to decide, the rakyat must know."
Ganabaskaran acknowledged that there were safety concerns over the vaccines but was confident that that the ministry would be able to monitor them effectively.
"We understand there may be safety concerns on vaccine development being fast-tracked and we are equally concerned.
"But any potential vaccine would be thoroughly evaluated through stringent checks by the Health Ministry for efficacy and safety before they are approved and declared safe for the population," he noted. - Mkini

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