KUALA LUMPUR: Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin says Putrajaya will consider a proposal for all MPs to be the first to be vaccinated when the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine arrives in Malaysia.
Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) had made the proposal in the Dewan Rakyat today, which Khairy said was a good suggestion and would be taken into consideration.
In a Twitter post, the minister said this could help Malaysians have more confidence in the safety of the vaccine, although he acknowledged that there were two conflicting views on the suggestion.
“For those who are hesitant, they want politicians to be vaccinated first. If there are no problems, they will take it. For those who are confident of the vaccines, they want politicians to get it last so that others are prioritised.
“The vaccine committee I jointly chair with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba will make recommendations on groups that will be prioritised for vaccination based on risk assessment,” he said.
In the Dewan Rakyat, Khairy said Putrajaya is considering other vaccine candidates that are already in the third phase of its clinical trial, adding that a decision on this will be announced later.
He said the Pfizer vaccine had been chosen as the interim clinical test report published by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that it had a 95% efficacy rate in curbing Covid-19.
He added that the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency has started going through the vaccine data provided by Pfizer, before giving the final approval for the vaccine to be used.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR LIVE UPDATE OF THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA