The Ministry of Health MUST clarify and properly explain the decision by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency(NPRA) Drug Control Authority (DCA) to extend the expiry date for Comirnaty(Pfizer) stocks of vaccine currently used for an additional up to 9 months after initial expiry date to allay public concerns on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
While I appreciate the State Health director Dr Ooi Choo Huck coming out to assure the public that all Covid-19 vaccine are safe and effective after the viral video, but such explanation should have been done clearer and earlier even before the batch of vaccine are being administered, so the public are more aware and understand the decision that was made
This is an issue I have been raising up even in the last Parliament session to the Ministry of Health including the extension of expiry date for Sinovac & CanSino to up to 6 months but have yet to get a clear answer from them until now.
This of course raise certain concerns on the public taking what they perceived as expired vaccine which will naturally raise concerns of safety. This of course caused hesitancy among public including here is Sarawak and perception that we are getting “expired vaccines” as the reason to how this decision was made was not properly explained.
This is even more important as the government rolls out the 2nd dose of booster for the elderly and high risk groups.
That is why i raised this matter not to increase hesitancy, but in order to allay concerns and boost confidence as i believe 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 of the potency and effectiveness of the vaccine, safety and duration of coverage.
With that said, i still encourage those that are of the high risk groups to get vaccinated and boosted, especially to avoid a surge of cases after the Raya Celebration.
However, the government must also play their role and be transparent and explain their decisions clearly to boost public confidence in hope the uptake will then increase.