KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — State governments were permitted to secure their own Covid-19 vaccines so long as these were approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), said Khairy Jamaluddin.

However, the coordinating minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) suggested that this condition meant the states were not likely to obtain the vaccines ahead of the federal government due to existing agreements with the vaccine makers.

“Under the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) initiative we are committed to provide the vaccine to all citizens nationwide. Besides this commitment, all other states are also allowed to procure their own vaccines as long as it is NRPA approved.

“However, the CITF would like to state that the vaccine the Selangor state government is trying to procure is the same as the federal government.

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“Based on the agreements between the Malaysian government and the vaccine manufacturers, the supply of vaccines must prioritise the previous orders from the federal government for the implementation of the NIP,” he said.

The minister explained that these existing orders must be fulfilled before the vaccine makers are to supply any other parties including the state governments, private hospitals and industries that placed their orders after the federal government.

State governments such as Selangor, Penang, and Sarawak have repeatedly expressed their desire to procure vaccines for their state residents independently of the federal government.

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Attention on this accelerated after Selangor began polling resident businesses on their interest to purchase Covid-19 vaccines for their workers.

In February, the government launched a blueprint to vaccinate up to 80 per cent of the country against Covid-19.

However, the NIP has since fallen behind schedule due to delays in vaccine deliveries to Malaysia, which Khairy previously blamed on hoarding by the world’s wealthiest nations.