Covid-19 vaccine procurement approved by govt, agencies, says KJ

PETALING JAYA: All Covid-19 vaccine procurements were approved by Putrajaya and this was confirmed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that probed the matter, says former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy also said the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines had taken into account the views of all government agencies.

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“All vaccine procurement was made with approval from the Cabinet and the Treasury, taking into account views from all agencies.

“The procurement was proper. This was confirmed by the PAC which investigated the matter,” Khairy told The Star on Wednesday (Feb 8).

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Meanwhile, Khairy was confident in answering questions by MPs when the White Paper is tabled in the coming Dewan Rakyat sitting.

“Of course,” said Khairy briefly when asked.

Earlier Wednesday (Feb 8), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that certain parts of the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines were signed off by the relevant minister without the approval or agreement of the Attorney General.

Anwar said this was among findings carried out in a White Paper, which will be tabled in the coming Parliament session.

During the pandemic, two ministers were put in charge of Covid-19 pandemic-related matters as well as the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).

Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba was the then health minister from 2020 till Aug 2021 and Khairy was the science, technology and innovation minister.

After Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as prime minister in August 2021, Khairy took over as health minister and Adham became the science, technology and innovation minister.

Attempts to contact Dr Adham are still ongoing.