Malaysia "Secures Vaccines for at Least 50% of Population"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] The Malaysian government announced that it has secured AstraZeneca's vaccine following Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and will begin vaccinations in February next year.

According to local media on the 20th, Health Minister Adham Baba stated the day before, "We will sign a vaccine contract with AstraZeneca on Monday (21st) for the same quantity as the Pfizer contract (6.4 million doses)."

On the 27th of last month, the Malaysian government signed a purchase contract for 12.8 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. It announced that it will vaccinate 6.4 million people, which is 20% of the total population of 32 million, twice each.

The Malaysian government also contracted to receive vaccines covering 10% of the population through COVAX.

COVAX is a vaccine joint procurement and distribution organization promoted by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), aiming for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Minister Adham emphasized, "We have secured vaccines to vaccinate at least 50% of the total population and are continuing vaccine negotiations to increase it to 70%. Regardless of the company, vaccines must be supplied quickly but must be safe and effective."

Malaysian health authorities are preparing to administer Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for the first time in February next year, according to local media reports.

Pfizer will supply 1 million doses to Malaysia in the first quarter of next year, with the remainder delivered gradually.

Malaysia is the first country in Southeast Asia to sign a purchase contract for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

Malaysia reported 1,153 new confirmed COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total to 91,969. There was one additional death, bringing the total to 433.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.