October 14, 2020, 11:16 AM
China will supply Malaysia first with the Covid-19 vaccine, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
China the "most advanced" country in Covid-19 vaccine research
In a virtual press conference that touched on the country's progress in its fight against Covid-19, Muhyiddin said the vaccine supplies, made possible with "support and cooperation" with China, could be available as early as the end of the year, New Straits Times reported.
He said: "As we all know, China is currently the most advanced in studying the (Covid-19) vaccine discovery."
"I was informed that it has reached the final stage and the vaccine could be used before end of the year after clinical trials are done," he said.
Saying he is "quite pleased with this guarantee", he has asked that this cooperation be "inked in the form of an MoU (memorandum of understanding) to be made with China", according to Bernama.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a virtual meeting with Muhyiddin. (Image via Xinhua/Zhu Wei)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein at a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 13.(Image via Xinhua/Zhu Wei)
Alternative plans
Muhyiddin added that Malaysia has also planned to possibly join the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) plan that is co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which requires them to "fork out a large amount of money" in order to get the vaccine, Malay Mail reported.
Meanwhile, Malaysia is also conducting direct negotiations with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing countries, he said.
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