馬來西亞會允許商業銷售 COVID-19 疫苗

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Malaysia to allow commercial sale of COVID-19 vaccines

Thu., July 15, 2021, 10:33 p.m.

By Rozanna Latiff and Joseph Sipalan

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia will soon allow the commercial sale of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Chinese firms Sinopharm and Sinovac, the science minister said on Friday, as authorities try to ramp up inoculation rates amid surging cases.

Malaysia has one of the region's highest number of coronavirus infections per-capita but also one of its fastest vaccination rates. About 39% of its adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Sinopharm vaccine, which Malaysia approved on Friday for emergency use, would soon be open for private purchase, science minister Khairy Jamaluddin told a virtual news conference.

Meanwhile, Sinovac vaccines would be available commercially from Aug. 1, after it has completed the delivery of some 15 million doses procured by the government, he said.

Malaysia on Friday reported 12,541 new coronavirus cases, bringing total infections to 893,323, including 6,728 deaths.

Malaysia had previously said it would stop administering Sinovac vaccines after supplies run out, and would instead rely largely on the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine for its national rollout.

On Friday, Khairy clarified that surplus Sinovac shots would remain available for those who may have allergy concerns with other vaccines.

"There is no issue over Sinovac's efficacy," he said.

Malaysia would also consider purchasing more doses from Sinovac in the event of a shortfall of AstraZeneca vaccines from neighbouring Thailand, Khairy said.

Thailand said this week it was considering limiting exports of locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccines to fight its own COVID-19 crisis, a move that could potentially disrupt supplies to its regional neighbours.

Khairy said Malaysia would seek assurances from Thailand that there would be no disruptions to supply.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Translation

吉隆坡（路透社）- 馬來西亞科學部長周五表示，馬來西亞將很快允許商業銷售由中國公司國藥控股和科興國際生產的 COVID-19 疫苗，正值當局試圖在病例激增的情況下提高接種率。

馬來西亞是該地區人均冠狀病毒感染人數最多的國家之一，也是疫苗接種率最快的國家之一。大約 39% 的成年人口至少接種了一劑 COVID-19 疫苗。

馬來西亞科學部長Khairy Jamaluddin 在網上新聞發布會上說，馬來西亞週五批准用於緊急使用的國藥控股疫苗, 並將很快開放供私人購買。

他說，與此同時，在完成政府採購的約 1500 萬劑疫苗的交付後，科興疫苗將從 8 月 1 日起上市銷售。

馬來西亞週五報告了 12,541 例新的冠狀病毒病例，使總感染人數達到 893,323，其中 6,728 人死亡。

馬來西亞此前曾表示，在科興疫苗供應用完後, 將不再使用它，而是主要依靠輝瑞-BioNTech mRNA 疫苗進行全國推廣。

在週五Khairy 澄清說，那些可能對其他疫苗有過敏問題的人仍可以獲得餘下的興科疫苗。

他說: “ 興科的功效沒有問題”。

Khairy說，如果由鄰國泰國來的阿斯利康疫苗出現短缺，馬來西亞還將考慮從興科購買更多劑量的疫苗。

泰國本週表示，它正在考慮限製本地生產的阿斯利康疫苗的出口，以應對其自身的 COVID-19 危機，此舉可能會擾亂對該地區鄰國的供應。

Khairy表示，馬來西亞將尋求泰國保證供應不會中斷。

              So, Malaysia will soon allow the commercial sale of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by China. I am wondering what is the reason for this decision, will it ramp up inoculation rates in the country?