PETALING JAYA: A consumer group has urged the government to come clean about its Covid-19 vaccine purchase agreement with pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer Inc.
The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) said that concerns have been raised around the world regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine.
“The scientific community has expressed concern over emergency use authorisations (EUAs) of the vaccine,” CAP president Mohideen Abdul Kader said in a statement today.
He said while EUAs have been issued sparingly for treatments such as H1N1 and Zika, the Covid-19 vaccine is the first of its kind to be approved for it by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Vaccines are different from other medical products in that they are deployed broadly and in healthy people, so the bar for approving one is high.
“This is why CAP is doubly concerned with the condition that Pfizer imposes on advance purchase agreements such as the one signed with Malaysia – that the company will be indemnified from liability for its vaccine,” he said.
He also pointed out Pfizer’s involvement in various lawsuits regarding healthcare fraud, failure to warn of substantial risks in medicines and illegal marketing as further reasons for scrutiny.
He cited media reports that drug manufacturers in Europe, including Pfizer, have insisted on liability indemnity from the government in the event of side effects.
Mohideen said it was “disturbing” that the US government had assumed liability for such side effects and asked if Malaysia would follow suit.
“We would also ask if this indemnity is also required by the other vaccine companies in negotiations with the government.”
He warned that should the government assume liability, the citizens would be the ones to pay the price.
On Nov 24, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the government had signed an agreement with Pfizer to procure 12.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
Muhyiddin said the health ministry had also signed an agreement with the global Covax Facility to obtain vaccines for another 10% of the population.
He had assured that the vaccines used would meet the strict conditions set by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.
On Dec 2, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the government would not approve the Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.