Lukanisman said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) would be able to provide the answer if it does a follow-up on the vaccine procurement matters discussed in the current session.

“If we look at the health white paper, despite the fact that it did not provide specific details on the sum (of money) that we used for the procurement, it did state the funding provided for procuring vaccines was RM4.65 billion, and we were able to see the number of doses that have been distributed.

“With simple calculations, we would be able to estimate the volume of waste or the number of expired vaccines,” he said in his winding-up speech for the health white paper, following a question from Yeo Bee Yin (PH-Puchong) who, in last week’s sitting, had called upon the ministry to reveal the cost of the expired doses.

Yeo then asked the deputy minister to clarify whether the RM4.65 billion given was solely for vaccine procurement or if it also included the cost of logistical services.

He said the funding covered the storage of vaccines in vials and transporting them across the country.

Speaking on the national immunisation programme, Lukanisman defended the country’s lateness in kickstarting the programme in Feb 2021, compared with its neighbour Singapore and vaccine-producing countries, such as the UK and the US, which started their respective programmes in Dec 2020.

He said that it was unfair to compare Malaysia with the US and UK since these countries prioritised their citizens first for vaccines.

“Despite the fact that the programme started in Feb 2021, Malaysia achieved an 80% inoculation rate by September 2021, five months earlier than the original target (set by the government),” he added.