By SHAFIQQUL ALIFF / Pic BLOOMBERG

MALAYSIA yesterday received 604,100 more doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca plc as a support to the country’s ongoing battle against the pandemic. 

In a statement, AstraZeneca said the latest shipment is part of its bilateral commitment to deliver 6.4 million doses directly to Malaysia. 

It added that to date, more than 5.1 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have been delivered to Malaysia through direct supply, Covax and donations from other countries as more doses are expected to be delivered between now and early 2022. 

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca Malaysia country president Dr Sanjeev Panchal said as the country transitions to an endemic state and Malaysians learn to live with the virus, the company will continue to work alongside the government to ensure a sustainable supply of the vaccine in the long term. 

“With public health as our top priority, we remain committed to providing broad and equitable access to our vaccine for all Malaysians,” he said in the statement. 

To date, more than 1.5 billion doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have been released for supply to over 170 countries as part of the company’s commitment to broad and equitable access. 

Approximately two-thirds of the doses have gone to low-and lower-middle-income countries. 

AstraZeneca was the first global pharmaceutical company to join Covax in June 2020 and more than 150 million doses of its vaccine have been delivered globally through the initiative to 130 countries to date.