The national pharmaceutical company, Pharmaniaga offers Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) to meet the needs of consumers who prefer the brand of vaccine for their booster injections.
According to Pharmaniaga Group Managing Director, Datuk Zulkarnian Md Eusope, the company is in the final stages of discussions to register the vaccine as a booster injection with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and expects approval in the near future.
He added that Pharmaniaga had previously supplied more than 22 million doses of Sinovac vaccine to the MOH and the private sector and there were about 11 million Sinovac recipients who needed booster doses.
Last month, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the ministry had decided to give a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine to individuals who had completed two doses of Sinovac vaccine at least after 3 months.
Initially, Sinovac dose recipients will be given heterologous injections of Comirnaty Pfizer vaccine in stages starting October 22 but according to a news report from Johor Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader Dr Boo Cheng Hau stated almost 20% of Sinovac recipients rejected Pfizer booster injections because they prefer vaccines of the same brand.
Pharmaniaga noted a recent world study done in Chile and immunogenicity tests in Turkey found that three doses of Sinovac were better than mixing varying vaccines as a booster.
Citing Sinovac Oversea Business Senior Director Weining Meng, booster doses given every 6 to 12 months after the second dose will lead to better effectiveness in building the body’s immune system, neutralizing antibodies that increase more than about 20-fold in adults and those aged 60 and over.
Shares of Pharmaniaga declined 0.5 sen or 0.06% during Friday's close at 80.5 sen, bringing the total market capitalization to RM1.05 billion.
