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[Dunia] Questions On Covid-19 Vaccine Storage And Distribution, Target Groups — Dr Kelvi

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Post time 5-12-2020 09:35 AM | Show all posts |Read mode
While it’s generally understood the Covid-19 vaccine should be reserved for frontliners, but I believe different considerations should be taken into account, including our epidemiology data on the most affected populations, including the elderly with pre-existing conditions or high-risk and vulnerable groups, since that is where most deaths occur.
The recent news of the approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom (UK) and even plans to distribute it in their country as early as next week definitely comes as an exciting news, as Malaysia ourselves have also signed a preliminary purchasing agreement with Pfizer to buy 12.8 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.
While this is indeed news that is highly welcomed, but the government must indeed be transparent on their plans in terms of logistics, distribution infrastructure, equity, and even proper education to prevent misinformation, confusion, and hesitancy.
First and foremost, we must not be overly carried away by the prime minister’s announcement and let our guards down as a vaccine isn’t a silver bullet to the pandemic, especially since the announcement also states that the doses will be spread out throughout next year, with Pfizer only delivering one million doses (for 500,000 people) to Malaysia by the first quarter of 2021.
In total, the deal involves 12.8 million doses of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine, a two-dose regimen, and will cover about 6.4 million Malaysians, which is about 20% of the population.
On top of that, an additional 10% of the population will be covered through the agreement Malaysia signed with the COVAX Facility, although they have yet to indicate whose vaccines in the Covax portfolio that they will be purchasing.
This means, by the end of 2021, just under a third of Malaysia’s population may be vaccinated against Covid-19, which is still a long way to achieve herd immunity, which requires about 70% of the population to acquire some form of antibodies.
So this raise the question on how the government intends to fill in the gap to reach that 70% target, how many other companies are they negotiating with, how much is it expected to cost, and what is the timeline that we are looking at so that the public are aware and not develop a false sense of security when the vaccine is first distributed in the community.
While based on the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister’s answers recently, as part of the deal, Pfizer is to handle the shipment and delivery of their vaccine as it requires ultra-cold storage of -17 degrees’ Celsius, but the Ministry must clarify — does this include delivering it all the way to the targeted user, not just shipping it to one central location in Malaysia or even just the main cities?
This, of course, poses problems in our tropical weather, especially target groups in the rural areas of Sabah and Sarawak and even in West Malaysia, where there may not be proper infrastructure, including ultra-cold freezers for such specialised distribution.
If there is a issue with improper storage, it could make the mRNA vaccine unusable, with analysts projecting that about 5 to 10 per cent of the Pfizer vaccine could be made ineffective “due to inadequate storage conditions”.
Some of this waste could go undetected too, leading to people getting ineffective shots and insufficient protection from the coronavirus. So, how does the government intend to make sure that no one is left behind when receiving such vaccines, regardless of their demographics?

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Post time 5-12-2020 02:17 PM | Show all posts
banyak soal lah si Kelvin Yii ni. suka bersoal selidik tapi tak mau dengar jawapan.
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