M’sia inks two vaccine supply deals, and other news you may have missed

KINI ROUNDUP | Key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. Malaysia has signed agreements with Pfizer and the Covax facility to purchase enough vaccines to immunise 30 percent of its population against Covid-19, and will be mounting an advocacy campaign to fight vaccine misinformation.

2. The first clinical trial for a Covid-19 vaccine candidate in Malaysia will begin next month using an experimental vaccine developed by the Beijing-based Institute of Medical Biology Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMBCAMS), which will recruit 3,000 participants in eight locations around the country.

3. Hundreds of refugee children have fled war, persecution, and abuse and found themselves in Malaysia, alone. A few now share the story of their struggle to fend for themselves in an unknown land with Kini News Lab.

4. The Election Commission has fixed Jan 16 to hold the Bugaya and Gerik by-elections, but will decide whether it will be necessary to postpone it though a proclamation of emergency as was done for the Batu Sapi by-election.

5. The Bersatu annual general assembly today will discuss abolishing the position of chairperson that was previously held by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has since been ousted from the party.

6. Economists question the government for allowing Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members affected by the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic impact to withdraw their savings, saying that the government can afford giving cash transfers instead.

7. Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has implored companies to do better in providing adequate accommodations for their workers after several outbreaks, saying that failure to do so could jeopardise their operations.

8. Malaysia’s amnesty exercise for undocumented migrants have attracted over 100 employers since its launch two weeks ago.

9. DAP Youth secretary Teh Hoong Keat said opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim should apologise for not opposing the Budget 2021 vote on Thursday, failing which the party should consider severing ties with PKR and disband Pakatan Harapan.

10. AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, which could be available through the Covax facility, is facing scrutiny that could delay its eventual approval, while the company said it is likely to run additional testing to address these issues.