Masing gives thumbs up to Cansino vaccine conditional approval

0

Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing

KUCHING (June 19): Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing gave his thumbs up to the conditional approval of the Cansino Covid-19 vaccine by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), as announced by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

In a statement today, he was echoing the comments by fellow deputy chief minister and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas on Tuesday, saying that the single-dose Cansino vaccine fits in very well with the state rural scenario.

“Cansino’s single-dose vaccine is perfect for the interior population in Malaysia, once (it is) approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Sarawak’s request for Cansino vaccine hopefully, by then, will be kindly considered,” Masing said.

Should the vaccine is approved by Kuala Lumpur for Sarawak’s use and the number of required vaccines reach the state, Masing said the 80 percent herd immunity can be achieved by August 21 this year.

In a statement on Tuesday, Uggah said this decision will expedite the state’s target to complete its vaccination programme roll out by August this year.

He added that medical teams will only need to visit the rural folks in their locations once, which will help cut down on expenses, travelling time and the inconveniences and risks involved.

As such, he said the committee has forwarded its request to the federal government for suitable allocation of the vaccine to the state as soon as the supply is available to the country.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dr Noor Hisham said the Cansino vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from United States have been given conditional approval for use in Malaysia.

He said the decision was made during the 359th Drug Control Authority (DCA) meeting.

He added that the meeting agreed to grant conditional registration approval for use during an emergency for two vaccine products requiring only one dose of immunisation.

The two vaccines were namely Convidecia Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector), produced by CanSino Biologics Inc, China and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Covid-19 Vaccine which has been granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) approval by the World Health Organisation (WHO).