GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday (Jun 1) approved the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use - the second Chinese jab to receive the WHO's green light.
The UN health agency signed off on the two-dose vaccine, which is already being deployed in several countries around the world.
"WHO today validated the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use," it said in a statement.
The move gives countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities "assurance that it meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing".
Last month Sinopharm became the first Chinese vaccine to be approved by the WHO.
The organisation has also given emergency use listing to vaccines being made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and the AstraZeneca jab being produced in India, South Korea and the EU, which it counts separately.
WHO's listing paves the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve and import a vaccine for distribution, especially those states without an international-standard regulator of their own.
It also opens the door for the jabs to enter the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme, which aims to provide equitable access to doses around the world, particularly in poorer countries.
Currently only AstraZeneca and some Pfizer jabs are flowing through the scheme.
"The world desperately needs multiple COVID-19 vaccines to address the huge access inequity across the globe," said Mariangela Simao, the WHO's assistant director general for access to health products.
"We urge manufacturers to participate in the COVAX facility, share their know-how and data and contribute to bringing the pandemic under control."
The Sinovac jab is already in use in 22 territories around the world, according to an AFP count.
Apart from China, the countries using Sinovac include Chile, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey.
The WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation have reviewed the jab and published their advice on its usage.
"WHO recommends the vaccine for use in adults 18 years and older, in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of two to four weeks," the agency said.
"Vaccine efficacy results showed that the vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 51 per cent of those vaccinated and prevented severe COVID-19 and hospitalisation in 100 per cent of the studied population."
KUALA LUMPUR: Main roads in Malaysia fell silent on Tuesday (Jun 1) as the country began its third nationwide lockdown amid a surging third wave of COVID-19 that has hit record levels in recent weeks.
Only essential businesses, such as supermarkets and medical clinics, are allowed to continue with business during the first phase of the lockdown, from Jun 1 to Jun 14.
Only two people from each household are allowed to go out to buy essentials or for medical services, with movement limited to a 10km radius. Travel between most parts of the country has been banned for months.
A view of Mass Rapid Transit train during a lockdown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Lim Huey Teng)
A view of deserted roads during a lockdown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Lim Huey Teng)
The latest outbreak has been more severe, partly due to highly transmissible variants. It has also strained the health service, prompting some in the capital Kuala Lumpur to question whether enough has been done.
"For me, the lockdown should have been carried out during Ramadan when there were fewer cases and people didn’t move around as much," said bank manager Muhammad Azril Maridzuan, referring to the Muslim fasting month that ended in mid-May.
"Now, people are moving around more. So it's a little late but a lockdown is okay to reduce our infection rates," he said.
A policeman inspects a GrabFood rider's delivery box at a roadblock during the nationwide lockdown, in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
Police inspect the travel documents of motorists at a roadblock during the nationwide lockdown, in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
More than 800 roadblocks have been set up throughout the country alongside the deployment of about 55,000 police officers.
Traffic appeared lighter in parts of the often congested capital, with cars moving smoothly around the landmark 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers.
Home minister Hamzah Zainudin said vehicle movement on roads dropped by about 70 per cent on average. Any congestion at roadblocks was due to the authorities ensuring road users followed the regulations, he added.
View of an empty street in the Chinatown area of Kuala Lumpur on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: Bernama)
View of an empty street in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: Bernama)
Another Kuala Lumpur resident was also worried about the scope of the latest curbs.
"I think even with the new restrictions, the airports are still open so there is still a potential that COVID-19 can spread even while the people are struggling (under lockdown) right now," said Siti, a 25-year-old food delivery rider, who declined to give her full name.
Malaysia on Monday announced an additional RM40 billion (US$9.7 billion) stimulus package, as the finance minister warned on Tuesday that this year's economic growth forecast of 6 per cent to 7.5 per cent may have to be revised down due to the new lockdown measures.
View of an empty street in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: Bernama)
View of an empty street in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: Bernama)
The number of new daily COVID-19 cases has been greater than India's on a per capita basis, although infections have come down since hitting a record on Saturday, Reuters reported.
While there had been growing calls for tougher action, the two-week lockdown will deal a fresh blow to many businesses that have struggled to stay afloat over the past year.
"The impact of the coronavirus on small businesses like mine is devastating," said Lilian Chua, whose hair salon outside Kuala Lumpur will have to close.
"The government imposes a lockdown but the virus is in the air - they need to speed up vaccinations," the 42-year-old told AFP.
Fewer than 6 per cent of Malaysia's population have so far received at least one vaccine dose.
A policeman inspects the travel documents of a passenger on a bus at a roadblock in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
A view of a deserted bridge during a lockdown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Jun 1, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Lim Huey Teng)
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) on Tuesday said there has been a lack of engagement with private general practitioners on their involvement in the national COVID-19 immunisation programme.
Malaysia's vaccination drive, which began in February, is now in its second phase. As of May 31, more than 3 million doses of vaccine have been administered. More than 12 million people - half of the total target - have registered for vaccination.
As of Tuesday, Malaysia has reported a total of 579,462 COVID-19 cases, of which 80,474 are currently active or infectious. There have been 2,867 fatalities to date.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian air force said on Tuesday (Jun 1) that it scrambled its jets to conduct a visual confirmation, after Chinese military transport planes were detected heading towards its national airspace and threatened the country’s sovereignty.
In a statement, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) said it identified 16 People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) planes making suspicious flights in Malaysia’s maritime zone air space, the Kota Kinabalu Flight Information Region (FIR) and approaching the Malaysian national airspace on May 31.
The planes were identified by the RMAF’s defence radar in Sarawak at 11.53am, said the statement.
It also said that the planes flew in an in-trail tactical formation 60 nautical miles from one another.
“The planes flew in that formation using the same point of entry and exit. The planes then changed (direction), heading to the Beting Patinggi Ali air space which is important to the country.”
The PLAAF planes then flew via Singapore FIR before entering the Malaysia maritime zone air space and the Kota Kinabalu FIR, the RMAF statement said, adding that the Chinese planes approached within 60 nautical miles of Sarawak beach, “threatening Malaysia’s sovereignty”.
The RMAF then put its Hawk 208 jets from No. 6 squadron on high alert, said the statement.
“The PLAAF planes were put under continued radar surveillance and were instructed to contact controllers in the Kota Kinabalu FIR. When these instructions were not heeded and the PLAAF planes crossed Kota Kinabalu FIR and headed towards the national airspace, the Malaysia Air Force scrambled intercepting jets at 1.33pm to perform a visual identification.”
“As a result of the air interception carried out, the RMAF has identified the aircraft as Ilyushin Il-76 and Xian Y-20 aircraft. These types of aircraft are strategic transport aircraft and capable of performing various missions. This incident is a serious matter that threatens national sovereignty and aviation safety, based on the density of air traffic in the airline routes in Kota Kinabalu FIR”.
“This incident was handled by the Malaysian Air Force based on protocols by the ICAO and our national air defence strategy. The foreign ministry has taken note of this through the defence ministry,” the statement added.
China claims much of the South China Sea, but there are also overlapping claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Washington and its allies have also challenged Beijing’s territorial claims.
In April last year, Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein called for calm in the South China Sea and reaffirmed Malaysia's commitment to peace in the disputed waters.
This came after reports that a Chinese government survey ship was "tagging" an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia's state oil company Petronas in the South China Sea.
CNA has reached out to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore for comments.
KUALA LUMPUR - The usually busy streets in and out of Kuala Lumpur were quiet, with malls and office buildings shuttered on Tuesday (June 1), on the first day of a two-week-long full lockdown in Malaysia.
Only essential economic and service sectors listed by the National Security Council were still open, including wet markets and supermarkets, which are operating on shorter hours.
With dine-in services prohibited, some have flocked to fast-food chains that offer drive-through services.
"It's more convenient for me to just buy at a drive-through instead of having to park. This way, I can limit my interaction and contact with people," customer service agent Hazriq Rasdi, 28, told The Straits Times as he waited for his order at a Starbucks located on the Federal Highway in Subang Jaya.
This is the second time the country has gone into a nationwide lockdown. It is to stem a third wave of Covid-19 infections that saw 9,020 new cases last Saturday, the highest number of daily cases recorded.
It was the fifth straight day of record new infections. To date, a total of 2,796 have died.
The latest restrictions mirror those imposed between March and May last year in the early months of the pandemic in the country.
The FMCO, which Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced last Friday, will be in force until June 14.
Most economic and social activities have been barred with people limited to travelling within a 10km radius of their homes. Only two per household will be allowed to leave their homes to buy essentials.
Interstate and interdistrict travel have been prohibited.
Essential businesses, such as food and beverage outlets, banking and e-commerce, are allowed to operate but with strict measures in place.
Ms Siti Najwa Halim, a personal shopper for a retail supermarket chain in Selangor, said there has been a surge in online orders since the restrictions kicked in.
"I saw fewer than four walk-in customers on Tuesday morning. Most customers are opting for our personal shopping services since there is a limit to how many persons can enter our premises. It's also out of convenience," she told ST.
Although supermarkets can remain open, with a cap on the number who can shop, checks by ST showed most were empty.
The majority of people visiting the malls were food and grocery delivery riders.
Although traffic in and out of the city was relatively light, several areas in Klang Valley experienced slow-moving traffic, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall's Integrated Transport Information System showed.
It was unclear if the congestion was the result of police roadblocks set up to monitor the movement restriction order.
Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani had announced on Monday that the authorities would set up 800 roadblocks nationwide, especially near fringes of towns where compliance to the FMCO might be low.
There would also be mobile roadblocks activated to discourage travel during the full lockdown.
"We will also increase spot checks outside the city due to the rate of compliance there being lower," he had told reporters on Monday.
HANOI: Vietnam is seeking to buy COVID-19 vaccine production technology and wants to build a plant to supply the COVAX programme, its health ministry said on Tuesday (Jun 1), as the country tries to step up vaccinations to stem a new outbreak of infections.
India and South Africa are among developing countries that have been pushing for an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines. But even with a surprise US shift last month to support a waiver World Trade Organization talks on the issue on Monday failed to achieve a breakthrough.
"Vietnam would build the plant and would like to receive the patent so it could supply vaccines to COVAX, to other countries as well as to Vietnam," the ministry said in a statement, following a meeting with COVAX representatives overnight.
Vietnam on Monday also pushed for private procurement of vaccines, as it races to secure supplies and tackle an outbreak that has seen its cases more than double in the past month.
The country of about 98 million people has so far received 2.9 million doses, including 2.6 million doses via COVAX, but is lagging many neighbours in its vaccination drive.
"Vietnam hopes the COVAX facility will speed up its provision of vaccines to Vietnam," Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said in the statement.
"Vietnam also hopes international organisations and other countries help it access COVID-19 vaccines," Long said.
The Southeast Asian country has managed to contain the virus better than many countries though an outbreak that started last month has proved harder to stamp out,
The Ministry of Health reported 111 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday morning, raising the total number of cases to 7,432, with 47 deaths.
SINGAPORE: Launched in February, Malaysia’s COVID-19 vaccination drive aims to reach 80 per cent of its population by February next year.
To this end, the federal government has set aside funds to procure 66.7 million doses – more than enough to inoculate every Malaysian – and rolled out a three-phase vaccination drive.
Targeting 500,000 front-liners, the first was completed in April. The second phase kicked in that month and runs to August, targeting 9.4 million over-60s as well as vulnerable people.
The final stage caters to the rest of the population and is slated to begin soon.
Rolling out a vaccination drive in a country as large and diverse as Malaysia is no mean feat. To its credit, the federal government has dealt with some challenges nimbly.
For example, following scares about potential side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine, the national campaign made these jabs available through a separate voluntary scheme. The main vaccination drive has continued, and the AstraZeneca component has enjoyed record take-up since.
Nonetheless, the national vaccination drive is proceeding slower than anticipated. According to the National COVID Immunisation Programme (JKJAV), as of May 27, 11 million people had registered for the vaccine, and 1.7 million people had received at least one dose.
This means that three months after the vaccination drive’s launch, only about 5.3 per cent of the country’s population has been reached.
One reason relates to procurement, as the vaccines are delivered on a quarterly basis, and there have been some delays.
A health worker shows the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, May 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Another is linked to a low vaccination rate. Up until early May, the pace fluctuated between 20,000-30,000 doses administered per day. The campaign has subsequently picked up speed with at least 70,000 daily shots since May 20.
Registration and coverage rates vary across the country. According to the JKJAV, geographically smaller states and territories such as Putrajaya, Labuan and Perlis have had a high number of residents registered and vaccinated.
The larger states of Selangor, Sarawak, Penang and Johor have been lagging on a per capita basis, even if the number vaccinated is high.
Feeling under-protected and eager to avoid more lockdowns, some state governments have decided to roll out their own vaccination drives. According to the Malaysian Constitution, state governments are, along with the federal government, jointly responsible for public health, sanitation and the prevention of disease.
To this end, state governments can use their own budgets, tap into networks with local communities and leverage their deeper knowledge of local conditions.
Earlier this month, Khairy Jamaluddin – the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation and also the Coordinating Minister of the National Vaccination Campaign – clarified the conditions under which state governments can procure and administer vaccines.
First, they need to apply to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) for approval.
Second, they can only source NPRA-approved vaccines.
Third, in the event of a conflict with the central government over vaccines from the same source, the federal vaccine drive must be given priority.
SELANGOR, SARAWAK AND PENANG
To date, three state governments have sought to secure their own vaccines. Collectively, they illustrate the benefits and perils of having more cooks in the kitchen.
A medical worker collects a swab sample from a woman at a COVID-19 testing center in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, Feb 17, 2021. (Photo: AP/Vincent Thian)
Selangor, Malaysia’s economic powerhouse, announced that it was allocating RM100 million (US$24.2 million) to procure 2.5 million doses of an undisclosed type of vaccine.
Beginning in June, its scheme will target larger employers, who will pay RM190 per dose for their employees. To date, more than 3,500 employers and one million employees have expressed interest in participating.
This initiative is interesting, as it marshals additional resources from corporations happy to reduce the potential cost of workplace lockdowns. Through reducing the number of people waiting for federally-funded vaccines, it can help shorten waiting times.
The Sarawak state government has procured 1 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine. In this case, the state government is tapping into its cash reserves in order to make the jabs available free to all Sarawakians.
The state government also has important networks in rural areas and deeper knowledge of local conditions. Thus, it will send out mobile teams to visit rural communities.
Given the logistical difficulties of repeat visits, the vaccine will be administered to all eligible people in a location – as opposed to the standard phased approach.
The Penang government offers a less positive example. In February, a businessman offered to donate two million doses of the Sinovac vaccine to the state government on behalf of a Hong Kong-based investment firm.
The federal Health Ministry rejected Penang’s request as, at that time, Sinovac had yet to be approved. In mid-May, the current and former Chief Ministers of Penang criticised the federal government for blocking the donation.
Khairy Jamaluddin subsequently charged that the offer was “bogus”, revealing that Sinovac had no record of the order. The Penang state government has since stated that it will use its own funds to procure additional vaccines.
Going forward, other state governments may feel pressured to follow their more independent-minded brethren. In addition to ensuring that they do not all seek to procure vaccines from the same sources, state governments will need to think about how they can leverage their inherent advantages to add value to the existing vaccine effort.
Should this not be the case, the cooks will produce a cold and unsatisfying broth.
Listen to Malaysians share how they have been coping amid a wave of COVID-19 infections in CNA's Heart of the Matter podcast:
Francis E Hutchinson is Senior Fellow and coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. This article was first published by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute as a commentary in Fulcrum.
