Johor hopes to buy more vaccines from S'pore or China

JOHOR BARU • Johor aims to acquire 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Singapore or China, said Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad on Wednesday.

He said the southern Malaysian state would bank on its good relations with the two countries to secure the additional doses, which could benefit at least 250,000 people.

"In the past, both countries have been generous in donating medical supplies such as personal protective equipment, sanitiser, masks and even ventilators to the state," he added.

"If Singapore, being our closest neighbour, has additional Covid-19 vaccine quotas, then Johor is willing to purchase them, as long as these vaccines are approved by our National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency."

As for China, Datuk Hasni said, he had conveyed Johor's willingness to purchase the vaccines to Malaysia's Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, to help expedite the matter.

Meanwhile, Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysia's coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said state governments may go ahead and buy Covid-19 vaccines from pharmaceutical companies that are not supplying jabs to the federal government.

Mr Khairy said the government is not restricting any state's intentions to procure its own vaccines and may even facilitate the effort.

"If states want to buy from other suppliers which are not supplying the federal government, go ahead - there is no restriction or monopoly.

"The federal government is purchasing only Pfizer, Sinovac and AstraZeneca, but not other brands such as Moderna and Sinopharm, which have received approval from the World Health Organisation.

"If states want to take in those vaccines, sure, as long as they are registered with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency," Mr Khairy said yesterday after visiting a vaccine dispensing centre in Penang.

Datuk Hasni said the state hopes to rope in KPJ Healthcare, a specialist healthcare services firm, to help Johor with vaccinations once the additional doses arrive, adding that it was important for 80 per cent of the state's population to be vaccinated by October to achieve Covid-19 herd immunity.

Malaysia aims to inoculate 80 per cent of its population by the end of the year to achieve herd immunity.

Datuk Hasni noted that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had also pledged to dispatch additional vaccines to the state in the coming weeks.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 04, 2021, with the headline Johor hopes to buy more vaccines from S'pore or China. Subscribe