Hisham: Over one million AstraZeneca vaccine doses received from Saudi Arabia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has received a million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and over 4.5 million units of medical supplies of various types from Saudi Arabia worth almost RM21.14mil (USD$5mil), says Senior Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

"On behalf of Malaysia, I extend our deepest appreciation and gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for ensuring that the contribution arrived only days after His Majesty King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud decreed that the King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Action (KSRelief) provide urgent assistance to aid our country in facing challenges posed by the pandemic, including medical supplies," said Hishammuddin.

The Foreign Minister said this at a press conference after the handing-over ceremony of the medical supplies from Saudi Arabia at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia on Friday (July 30).

Hishammuddin said that this was not the first time that Saudi Arabia had extended Covid-19 assistance to Malaysia.

"In May 2020, Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to contribute roughly eight million units of medical supplies to Malaysia. With the most recent contribution, Saudi Arabia is the single largest contributor of Covid-19 assistance to Malaysia thus far," added Hishammuddin.

He said that Malaysia's recognition and support from its international allies shows its strength and standing to other countries around the world.

Hishammuddin said that Malaysia received due recognition from various countries that continued to support Malaysia's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"If what we have planned does not make sense, I don't think we will be given the due recognition and respect that we received in the last few months," he said.

The foreign minister noted that Malaysia so far had received contributions from other countries as well, including the United States, Japan, China and the United Kingdom.

Hishammuddin believed that the bilateral and multilateral ties with the respective nations remains at a strong footing

"I am also happy to announce that the vaccine contribution from the United Kingdom is scheduled to arrive next Tuesday (Aug 3)," he said.