Stop Using COVID-19 Vaccine Sinovac, Malaysia Use Pfizer Vaccine

Illustration: Sinovac Vaccine. (Wikimedia Commons/Government of the State of São Paulo)

JAKARTA - Malaysia's Ministry of Health announced plans to no longer use Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, after its supply ends while the neighboring country has sufficient stocks of other vaccines.

In a press statement with a number of other authorities, Minister of Health Adham Baba said Malaysia's COVID-19 vaccination program will rely on Pfizer's mRNA vaccine.

Officials say Malaysia has secured about 45 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine, enough to vaccinate about 70 percent of the country's population, compared with 16 million doses of Sinovac's vaccine.

“About half of the 16 million has already been distributed, so the rest will be used to cover the second dose. For those who have not been vaccinated, they will receive the Pfizer vaccine," said Adham as quoted by CNA Friday, July 16.

The government previously said it had secured 12 million doses of Sinovac vaccine, as part of a deal that would see state-linked company Pharmaniaga undertake the process of filling and finalizing the vaccine for local distribution.

The announcement to stop using Sinovac's inactivated virus vaccine comes amid growing concerns over its efficacy against the new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus.

Apart from Sinovac, other COVID-19 vaccines approved in Malaysia include AstraZeneca, CanSino Biologic, and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine.

Malaysia also plans to announce its decision whether to add the Sinopharm vaccine to the list of vaccines licensed in Malaysia, officials said.

With 880,782 cases and 6,613 deaths so far, Malaysia has one of the highest infection rates per capita in Southeast Asia, but also one of the highest vaccination rates, with about 26 percent of its 32 million population receiving at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

For information, Thailand this week announced plans to use AstraZeneca vaccine as a second dose, for residents who received Sinovac vaccine as the first dose. Meanwhile, Indonesia is considering booster injections for residents who have received two doses of Sinovac vaccine.