The government may allow human trial of three vaccine candidates in the country to enhance the possibility of getting more Covid vaccines, say officials. Health Secretary Abdul Mannan told The Daily Star yesterday that allowing clinical trial of vaccine candidates is part of the government's initiatives to find more sources of vaccines. "If any vaccine producer gives us
Published on: Tuesday, January 12, 2021
By: Bernama
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Kuala Lumpur: A phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial will start on Jan 21 at nine Health Ministry (MOH) hospitals by their respective Clinical Research Centres (CRC), said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
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In announcing the matter, he said the first clinical trial conducted in Malaysia was expected to involve 3,000 volunteers.
“Malaysia will be the first country outside China to conduct the trial of inactivated Covid-19 vaccine candidate made by the Institute of Medical Biology Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China (IMBCAMS).
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“All regulatory requirements including ethical approval from the Medical Review & Ethics Committee (MREC) and finally, the Clinical Trial Import License (CTIL) from NPRA were obtained on January 8, 2021,” he said in a special address broadcast live on local television stations, Monday.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is expected to receive the Pfizer vaccine under the first phase by the end of February, says Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Prime Minister said the Health Ministry s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) has approved the vaccine registration produced by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. As an early preparation to ensure the distribution of Covid-19 vaccine will go smoothly once the supply has been procured, the Health Ministry had developed the Covid-19 national vaccination plan, he said in his special address on Monday (Jan 11).
Muhyiddin said in order for Malaysia to obtain the herd immunity, some 60% to 70% or between 20 and 23 million of the Malaysian population should be vaccinated.
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Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has just announced that Malaysia will be again placed under a lockdown for two weeks starting Wednesday, 13 January 2021 until Tuesday, 26 January 2021.
While the implementation of MCO is the first takeaway from his announcement, the prime minister also mentioned other important things during his address.
The situation today is indeed very alarming. Our healthcare system is under tremendous pressure now than at any other time since the start of the pandemic. As I have said before, unprecedented situations call for unprecedented measures.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Prime Minister of Malaysia