According to Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy chief executive officer Azrul Mohd Khalib, the Covid-19 vaccines would require ultra-cold storage of -70°C, which is something beyond the capability of most existing primary healthcare facilities in the country.

“We need to ensure that the health ministry gets the necessary funds and manpower needed to hit the ground running when the vaccines become available in 2021, especially since they have specific logistical and storage requirements which will require investing in the necessary infrastructure and training.

“Are we going to acquire Pfizer’s special ice-boxes? Have we allocated for the record-keeping system that will be needed? As it stands, we do not believe that the existing allocations are adequate for this purpose,” he said in a statement yesterday.

On Nov 24, the government, through the health ministry, signed a preliminary purchasing agreement with pharmaceutical company Pfizer to obtain 12.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to meet the immunisation needs of 20% or 6.4 million Malaysians.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that through the agreement, Pfizer had pledged to deliver one million doses, 1.7 million doses, 5.8 million doses and 4.3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2021.

Azrul, meanwhile, also expects challenges in the Covid-19 vaccine delivery process to rural areas due to limitations and pragmatic concerns.

He said distributing vaccines from the manufacturer to the actual vaccination sites in the community can be extremely challenging, especially when it involves messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines (a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases).

He also urged the government to address and overcome the high levels of widespread misinformation regarding Covid-19 and vaccines, in general.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR LIVE UPDATE OF THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA

We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.