Malaysia’s Current Vaccine Procurement Strategy Is Late But Sound
We begin 2021, with 3 vaccines poised for rollout throughout the year to benefit and protect at least 40 percent of the population.
We begin 2021, with 3 vaccines poised for rollout throughout the year to benefit and protect at least 40 percent of the population.
Vaccine hesitancy will result in people being unprotected and left behind.
Proving that the vaccine works to regulators, along with short-term safety data, is the first hurdle.
Three priority groups can be identified.
This is a marathon and this is only at the first leg of the race.
With shrinking national budgets, increasing deficits, demands for welfare assistance, and economies which are struggling to recover from month long lock-downs and harsh restrictive measures, investing in the unknown is a difficult decision to make.
Developing the capacity to rapidly fill vaccine vials and finish packaging vaccines for manufacturers in a public health emergency, is an issue of national security.
The united declaration calls for a range of measures to safeguard supplies of essential medical goods and support innovation for future Covid-19 treatments and cures.
Now is not the time for countries to look inwards. The crisis will only be resolved, and economies will only recover, if countries are allowed to trade and collaborate freely with each other.
If we are absolutely unable to wait for the epidemiological situation to improve, then the staged approach taken by Selangor is the model to follow.