Vaccine dry run did not involve tests on individuals – State health director

KUCHING: No tests were administered onto any individuals during the Covid19 vaccine dry run on Jan 29 at Belaga Health Clinic, said Sarawak Health Department director Dr Chin Zin Hing.

In responding to some netizens who had questioned the purpose of the dry run, he said it was carried out solely to determine if the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine – upon its arrival in the country – could withstand the journey from its source to its destination at the required temperature of negative 75 degrees Celcius.

“The dry run activity carried out on Jan 29 at the Belaga health clinic was an exercise and trial using only a saline-filled bo le before the real delivery and receiving of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

“Thus, no testing was carried out on any individuals. The dry run activity is an extremely important activity as a start before the real vaccines accepted by the Ministry of Health are used in vaccination centres nationwide,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Dr Chin said the PfizerBioNTech vaccine requires a storage temperature of negative 75 degrees Celcius – give or take negative 15 degrees Celcius

– which poses a challenge in the distribution process.

He noted that for the dry run, the thermal shipping container containing dry ice and equipped with thermal loggers to contain the vaccine, had been flown via commercial flight to Subang from Belgium, which is the country distributing the vaccine.

It was then flown to Kuching and delivered via land to Bintulu before being sent to Belaga Health Clinic.

“It was found that the thermal shipping container used by the Pfizer party had successfully maintained the required temperature of between negative 90 degrees Celcius to negative 60 degrees Celcius,” he added.

Dr Chin said the with the success of the dry run, the Health Ministry hopes it can assist all parties in planning the best steps to maintain the vaccine’s quality, safety and effectiveness for all Malaysians in general and Sarawakians, especially those in rural areas.

On Monday, Health directorgeneral Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Malaysia is expected to receive the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Feb 26, which will then be distributed in stages across the country within a week or two.