KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia said on Saturday it has received the coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca PLC, following news that it will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February as it grapples with an increase in infections.
The AstraZeneca deal, signed Monday, will enable immunization of about 20% of the Malaysian population of 32 million, similar to that of the deal with US giant Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE, Health Minister Adham said. Baba.
The Southeast Asian nation has seen a spike in the number of cases since September, with nearly 92,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and 433 COVID-19 deaths.
Malaysia expects to receive enough vaccines to inoculate 10% of the population through the global COVAX facility, supported by the World Health Organization, he said in a statement. The government is working on more deals to extend the vaccination to 70% of the population, Adham said.
“What’s important is which company can give us quick access to their vaccine and that it must be safe, effective and of high quality,” he said.
The government expects to receive the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses in February, national news channel Bernama said. Malaysia said last month it had agreed to purchase 12.8 million doses of this vaccine, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to sign a deal with the US drug manufacturer.
According to the Pfizer deal, Malaysia will receive 1 million doses in the first quarter of 2021 and 1.7 million, 5.8 million and 4.3 million doses in the following quarters.
Pfizer-BioNTech has supply agreements with several countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia and Great Britain. They expect to produce up to 50 million doses of vaccines by 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by 2021.
Worldwide, more than 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, 48 of which are in human trials, WHO says.
Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Edited by Shri Navaratnam and William Mallard