Private hospitals may get approval for vaccine procurement

PUTRAJAYA: Private hospitals will be given permission to negotiate with suppliers to purchase Covid-19 vaccines, says National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

But being personally involved in discussions with vaccine providers, he said, vaccine delivery to private markets will most likely be made in the third and fourth quarter of this year, at the earliest.

“So I will discuss with private hospitals about approval for them to initiate discussions.

“People who are wealthy should not think that they can pay for a shot this month or next month because the entire world is suffering from a lack of vaccine supply.

“I will let them try to procure but to manage the expectations of Malaysians, I can tell you the private market will not immediately give them, ” he told reporters on the development of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme here yesterday.

On the vaccination registration deadline, Khairy said the government is still discussing whether it is suitable and when the date can be announced.

“If we decide that the suggestion can bring a positive outcome to the number of vaccinations, we will announce it later, ” he added.

He said that as of March 10, the number of vaccine doses available for frontliners in the first phase of the vaccination process had been increased from 500,175 to 647,398.

“The additional vaccines will be distributed to the frontliners in the next two weeks.

“When vaccine supplies are sufficient, there will be an agreement between the government and the private sector to prioritise vaccinations for industries in red zone areas.

“This agreement will be announced when we finalise the form of cooperation with the companies in the industries.

“Industries with more than 5,000 workers will be prioritised, as well as those located in high-risk or red zone areas, ” he said.

The Environment and Water Ministry has outlined a guideline named the Green Vaccination Programme to encourage eco-friendly operations at vaccination centres, especially as it involves a large number of people and resources, including the handling of procured goods.

“This guide is an initiative to make resource management more sustainable, in terms of waste management and electricity usage and others.

“The Environment and Water Ministry will be advising the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) on the guidelines, ” he said.

Meanwhile, Khairy has discussed with the National Security Council, Home, International Trade and Industry and Foreign ministries on vaccination for foreigners in the country, including embassy staff, foreign students as well as legal and undocumented migrants.

On the administration of vaccination by private general practitioners (GPs), Khairy said GPs are to send the list of patients to the MySejahtera system in order for them to be line-listed for the vaccination via their private general practitioners.

“We have informed private GPs to provide us with the indicative list of their patients who want to be vaccinated at their chosen general practitioners, ” he said.