24 July 2021

Press statement by MCA Youth Wilayah Persekutuan Vice Chairman Chris Daniel Wong


Debunking Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz On Paid Vaccination



I refer to the former International Trade and Industry Minister Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Rafidah Aziz who recently chastised the decision to allow the sale of 14 million Sinovac doses to certain states and private entities, because the people should not be made to pay for “what should be free”.


I feel the need to correct her on her misconception of how this works. The people are still getting the vaccine for free. State initiatives roll out their own vaccine programme to complement the Federal Government’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) to achieve herd immunity; it was never meant to replace it.

One example is the Selangor State Government’s Selvax programme. According to their own website, under the Selangkah Selvax program, the Selangor State Government procured millions of Sinovax vaccine doses through Pharmaniaga, charging RM350 for 2 shots.

Just like in Selangor, other states that purchase the vaccines will be able to roll out their own vaccine programme for those who need to vaccinate their staff in a hurry (such as factory owners) and are willing to pay so they do not need to wait for the vaccines. The rest of rakyat in that state will still get their vaccines for free in due course.

As for her pointing to Pharmaniaga for “blatant abuse of monopoly status” for carrying out the “fill and finish” process for the Sinovac vaccines, this is already stale. The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has explained more than half a year ago that undertaking the fill and finish process in Malaysia will lower the price as compared to buying finished products such as in the case of Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and nobody from the Opposition has managed to debunk this.

Perhaps if Tan Sri Rafidah is really interested in discussing blatant abuse of monopoly, she could address former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s accusation implicating her with the abuse of tens of thousands of Approved Permits (AP) for importing foreign vehicles worth billions of Ringgit. 

Chris Daniel Wong
MCA Youth Wilayah Persekutuan Vice Chairman
BN Youth Wilayah Persekutuan Information Chairman

-MCA online-