PETALING JAYA: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has thanked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the latter’s plans to gift Covid-19 vaccines to Malaysia.
In a statement, Comptroller of the Royal Household Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the King had met with UAE’s Health and Prevention Minister Dr Abdul Rahman in Dubai yesterday to discuss the supply of vaccines, for the purpose of clinical trials in Malaysia.
“Sultan Abdullah expresses the deepest gratitude to Dr Abdul Rahman and the UAE government for their offer,” it said.
The statement added that the UAE’s interest in supplying vaccines to Malaysia was proof of Malaysia’s strong bilateral relations with the country, and their efforts towards post-Covid-19 recovery.
However, the King noted that several processes had to be brought up with, among others, the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and Clinical Research Centre before considering the feasibility of clinical trials in the country.
The meeting was part of the King’s special five-day trip to the UAE. He is scheduled to return home tomorrow.
Yesterday, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin confirmed that the UAE planned to gift 500,000 vaccines to Malaysia as part of a government-to-government initiative.
While the ministry was unable to provide details as to which pharmaceutical company the vaccine would be sourced from, he said it would need regulatory approval in Malaysia before being rolled out.
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