KUCHING: The Ministry of Health (MoH) must clarify and provide proper explanation on the decision by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) Drug Control Authority (DCA) to extend the expiry date for Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine stock.
Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii stated that this was to allay public concerns on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
“While I appreciate Sarawak health director Dr Ooi Choo Huck coming out to assure the public that all vaccines are safe and effective after the viral video, but such explanation should have been done earlier even before the batch of vaccines are being administered. This is so that the public are more aware and understand the decision that was made.
“This is an issue that I have been raising up even in the last Parliament session to MoH, including the extension of expiry date for Sinovac and CanSino up to six months, but we have yet to get a clear answer from them until now,” he said on Thursday (April 28).
He pointed out that this of course raised certain concerns among the public, taking what they perceived as expired vaccine.
“This causes hesitancy among the public, including here in Sarawak. The perception that we are getting ‘expired vaccines’ as the reason to how this decision made was not properly explained.
“Moreover, this is even more important as the government rolls out the second dose of booster for the elderly and high-risk groups.”
He stressed that he had raised the matter not to increase hesitancy but to allay concerns and boost confidence.
He believed that a clearer and more comprehensive explanation must be given to the public, including to parents and children, who are receiving these batch of vaccines.
“I believe on top of the explanation by the State Health Department, the NPRA should also explain further specifically on how and whether the extension will have any effects on the potency and effectiveness of the vaccine, safety, and duration of coverage.
“Having said that, I still encourage those who are in the high-risk group to get themselves vaccinated and boosted specially to avoid a surge of cases after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.
“However, the government must also play their role and be transparent in explaining their decisions clearly to boost public confidence in hope the uptake will then increase.”
