PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has come out in defence of the government following criticism over the expiry of millions of unused doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
MMA president Dr Muruga Raj Rajathurai said it was unfair to pin the blame on the government as the real reason the vaccines went to waste was the public’s lack of interest in the booster jab.
He explained that during the vaccine acquisition process, “every country’s health ministry would likely have targeted a 90% to 100% vaccination and booster rate, but the demand for vaccines dipped by the time the programme for booster shots had rolled out”.
Also, as the vaccination programme progressed, the economy began to open up and Covid-19 infections declined and, eventually, proof of vaccination was no longer required for international travel.
“Hence, it is likely that a percentage of people who did not want to be vaccinated in the first place would have remained unvaccinated,” he said in a statement.
Muruga also said governments were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with pharmaceutical companies.
Violating these NDAs, he said, would have resulted in expensive, protracted lawsuits.
Earlier, health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that close to three million doses of Covid-19 vaccines had expired by the end of February, costing the government about RM81.4 million.
She also said that another eight million doses were expected to expire by September this year.
In response, former health minister Dr S Subramaniam called for those eight million doses to be donated to other nations.