Chinese ambassador: Sinovac vaccine safe and halal
SEPANG: China yesterday reassured Malaysians that vaccines manufactured by the country are safe and effective as the Chinese government required vaccine companies to promote vaccine research and development in strict accordance with scientific laws and regulations.
Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said Phase 3 clinical trials of the Sinovac Covid19 vaccine had been carried out in many countries, with more than 36 million doses administered in China and abroad.
“The data and results prove that the Sinovac vaccine is safe and effective. Besides that, it has been deemed halal by the Indonesian authorities.
“I hope this information will infuse more confidence in Malaysians who will be inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine,” he told a press conference upon the arrival of the Sinovac vaccine here.
Ouyang said China was expected to supply 14 million doses of the vaccine to Malaysia within a year, as agreed in the deal with Pharmaniaga.
He said the next batches of the vaccine will arrive from March.
“Today, the arrival of the first batch of the vaccine in bulk reflects the China-Malaysia vaccine cooperation, and represents the deep friendship between the Chinese and Malaysian people.
“Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic more than a year ago, the governments and people of China and Malaysia have worked side by side in fighting the pandemic and for economic recovery, providing firm support and assistance to each other, which demonstrates the deep friendship between our two countries that have supported each other through thick and thin.”
He said China had firmly supported and taken an active role in the global fight against the pandemic and would continue to work with Malaysia and other countries to strengthen cooperation on vaccines, pandemic prevention and control, and economic recovery.