Health D-G says current Covid-19 vaccine supply stable, future Pfizer batch under negotiation

December 19, 2023

Health D-G says current Covid-19 vaccine supply stable, future Pfizer batch under negotiation

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 18 — Health Director-General Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan has assured the public today that the country’s Covid-19 vaccine supply is still sufficient despite the recent spike in cases.

In a press conference, he said those who wish to take booster shots can book an appointment on the MySejatera app.

“Or you can just walk in,” he told reporters here.

Dr Muhammad Radzi said the current bivalent vaccines that Malaysia have are still effective in combating the coronavirus, but the Ministry of Health (MoH) is also currently in the process of getting monovalent vaccines from pharmaceutical firm Pfizer.

“The new vaccine, monovalent, is still in procurement. The process will take time in terms of supply, I think it’s a bit difficult now.

“However, I think with what we have now, it is still effective. It can still protect the Covid-19 that is circulating now,” he said.

A monovalent Covid-19 vaccine targets a specific virus strain, offering tailored protection against a dominant variant. In comparison, bivalent vaccines target two different strains simultaneously

This comes as Dr Muhammad Radzi said his ministry is expecting the number of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia to continue rising, following the global trend.

“We expect that cases will continue to increase. It’s a global phenomenon where Covid-19 cases are in an environment where all countries experience an increase in cases.

“We expect that it will continue to increase, however we will continue to monitor so that in that situation we are under control,” he said.

However, he said the ministry expects the surge to die down in the next couple of months.

“What we have learned before, when there is a surge in cases, usually it will end within four to six weeks.

“We hope that with the measures we have now, we can control and reduce cases,” he added.

Malaysia recorded a total of 20,696 new Covid-19 cases last week.