73.5mil doses for RM3.5 billion is fair, says CITF

(FMT) – Malaysia spent RM3.5 billion to procure sufficient Covid-19 vaccines for 120% of the population of 38.5 million people, the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) said today.

It said as most of the vaccines procured were two-dose vaccines, the total number of doses Malaysia had procured was 73.5 million doses, and not 32 million as claimed in a Facebook posting.

A Facebook posting by one “Irwan Sanei” had alleged that the US spent RM6 billion for 100 million doses, Vietnam RM4.5 billion for 150 million doses, while Malaysia spent RM5 billion for only 80% of the population or 32 million people.

However, CITF said that the overall budget for the national immunisation programme was RM5 billion as it included the cost of implementing the programme itself, with RM3.5 billion spent on vaccine procurement.

“As a comparison, Singapore is spending S$1 billion (RM3.1 billion) for its population of 5.7 million. The United States has reportedly paid US$1.95 billion (RM8.07 billion) for 100 million Pfizer doses. Based on this info, Malaysia’s procurement seems fair and even more competitive than other countries,” said CITF.

CITF said it had lodged a police report against “Irwan Sanei” for spreading fake news.