KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — China and Japan’s commitment to contribute vaccines to Malaysia is seen as a timely move in bolstering the country’s ongoing National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
In welcoming the contribution, Hishammuddin said he had received a message on Tuesday from his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi saying China agreed to contribute 500,000 doses of SinoVac-CoronaVac vaccines to the people of Malaysia.
“On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I would like to express Malaysia’s sincere gratitude to my counterpart, His Excellency Wang Yi and the Government of the People’s Republic of China for this generous contribution which will greatly assist us in our joint efforts to fight this pandemic,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the minister also welcomed the announcement made by his Japanese counterpart, Motegi Toshimitsu also on Tuesday on the provision of AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in Japan to Malaysia.
“On behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my counterpart, Minister Toshimitsu and the Government of Japan, for this positive development.
“This is a significant step in Malaysia-Japan ties which will be further consolidated for the mutual benefit of our two countries,” he added.
Hishammuddin said Malaysia is highly appreciative of the invaluable support extended by China and Japan, regarded as Malaysia’s longstanding partners, throughout the pandemic.
