Covid-19: Latest batch of 604,100 AstraZeneca vaccine doses arrives in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: An additional 604,100 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine were delivered to Malaysia on Wednesday (Oct 20).

AstraZeneca Malaysia country president Dr Sanjeev Panchal said the delivery was to support the country's ongoing battle against the pandemic.

"This latest shipment is part of AstraZeneca's bilateral commitment to deliver 6.4 million doses directly to Malaysia.

"To date, more than 5.1 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine have been delivered to Malaysia through direct supply, Covax facility and donations from other countries.

"More vaccine doses are expected to be delivered between now and early 2022," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

As the country transitions to an endemic state and Malaysians learn to live with the virus, Dr Sanjeev said AstraZeneca Malaysia would continue to work with the government to ensure a sustainable supply of the vaccine in the long term.

"With public health as our top priority, we remain committed to providing broad and equitable access to our vaccine for all Malaysians," he added.

To date, he noted that more than 1.5 billion doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine have been released for supply to over 170 countries as part of the company's commitment to broad and equitable access.

About two-thirds of doses have gone to low- and lower-middle-income countries, he added.

AstraZeneca was the first global pharmaceutical company to join Covax in June 2020 and more than 150 million doses of its vaccine have been delivered globally through Covax to 130 countries so far.