KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian distributor of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine has pledged to donate 5,000 doses to the Sabah government.
Kanger International Bhd, a Malaysia-based investment holding company, also donated RM200,000 to the state government to help curb the pandemic.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor thanked the firm for their contribution while receiving a mock cheque from the company's executive director Steven Kuah Choon Ching on Friday (May 21) at the Sabah Administrative Centre building.
Hajiji said, however, the state government would only accept Kanger's offer of the Sinopharm vaccine once it has been given the green light from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) of the Health Ministry.
"This contribution will go a long way in fighting the pandemic here. I hope more will come forward and emulate Kanger's kind gesture," he said.
Hajiji said Sabah has so far received 223,470 vaccine doses for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme from the Federal Government.
"However, as of Wednesday (May 19), the number of registrations for the vaccine is only at 17% or 498,392 people," he said, reiterating his call for Sabahans to register for the vaccine through the MySejahtera app.
He said 20 private clinics throughout the state would also be turned into vaccination centres soon, in addition to those located at 24 hospitals, 28 government clinics and 24 non-health ministry facilities such as government buildings at present.
Meanwhile, Kuah in a separate statement said Kanger International hopes the assistance will aid Sabah, which is one of the states badly affected by the pandemic.
On the vaccine donation pledge, he said the company is currently in the process of obtaining approval for the distribution of the Sinopharm vaccine in Malaysia.
The vaccine has been approved for use in 42 countries globally, where over 200 million doses have been supplied worldwide.
