KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): All states in Malaysia are allowed to undertake their own vaccine supply purchases, provided that the vaccines must first be approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), said Coordinating Minister for National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin, in a statement today.

Khairy, who is also the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, acknowledged that there are some states that have already initiated their vaccine supply acquisition efforts."However, the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force noted that the types of vaccines that these states are trying to obtain, for example the state of Selangor, are currently from the same pharmaceutical companies purchased under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK)," he said.

Under the terms of agreement between the government of Malaysia and the vaccine manufacturers, Khairy explained that the supply of vaccine ordered by the federal government will be prioritised before any vaccine supply can be distributed by pharmaceutical companies to any other parties including state governments, industry players or private hospitals.

Khairy's statement came on the heels of Penang's announcement that the state had been offered Sinovac vaccines for free, but that it could not do anything with them as the federal government was standing in the way.

This is because the Ministry of Health (MOH) had denied permission for the state to use the vaccines and was told to wait instead for PICK to be rolled out, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow was quoted as saying.

Bukit Mertajam member of Parliament and former deputy youth and sports minister Steven Sim raised his concerns about the issue, after Sarawak reportedly received government approval to procure up to one million Sinovac vaccines. "This raises the question of how Sarawak can get the federal government's approval to buy their supplies when Penang does not receive the same approval," he said in a statement today.

According to Sim, the Penang government has, since Feb 15, applied for permission from the MOH to receive two million doses of Sinovac vaccine to be used by the people of Penang without incurring any cost to the federal government. However, the application has yet to receive any response from the federal government even after three months, he said.

Meanwhile, state executive councillor for public health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud announced yesterday that Selangor employers could now purchase Covid-19 immunisation jabs for their workers via the state's SElangkah app, and that the registration for this is now open. However, it is unclear which vaccine will be used under this programme.

It is understood that Pharmaniaga Bhd, which is the licence holder for the Sinovac vaccine in Malaysia, has in its possession a supply of the vaccine to be sold to private parties.

When contacted, however, a Pharmaniaga spokesperson declined to comment on The Edge's queries, including about whether the company has already sealed a vaccine supply deal with any states.