Govt lost RM185m in expired Covid-19 vaccines, Dewan told

PARLIAMENT | The government suffered losses of about RM185 million after 10.8 percent of Covid-19 vaccines it acquired under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pick) reached their expiry last month, said Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad.

“Since Pick was officially launched on Feb 24, 2021, the government has acquired a total of 84.5 million doses (of Covid-19 vaccines), either through government procurement or donations.

“As of June 11, 2024, a total of 9,159,151 vaccine doses of various brands have reached their expiry. This was 10.8 percent from the total number of doses we have acquired so far.

“The amount of losses included expenses related to logistics such as storage facilities,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.

The Kuala Selangor MP was responding to a question by Jalaluddin Alias (BN-Jelebu) who wanted to know the exact number of Covid-19 vaccines that had to be disposed of by the government due to expiry and the amount of losses it incurred.

However, Dzulkefly defended his predecessor’s decision to stockpile vaccines during the pandemic.

“During their time, there were no standard operating procedures regarding this matter because it was the first time we experienced such a pandemic.

“Thus I totally understand why we are having a surplus of vaccines now, because back then there was a tight race (between countries) to get our hands on the vaccines,” he said.

Adverse effects monitored

Dzulkefly said the ministry will continue to monitor the adverse effects of Covid-19 vaccines on Malaysians.

“The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) has been monitoring since the start of Pick. So far we have administered a total of 72 million vaccine shots.

“In regards to adverse effects after receiving vaccine shots, there are about 368 cases for every one million shots. But serious cases were 26 for every one million, which saw hospitalisation or life-threatening cases.

“We will continue to monitor, and for every death incident there will be a forensics investigation to establish the cause of death,” he said.

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