PETALING JAYA: The Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines have been granted conditional approval for use in the country’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, says the Health Ministry.

       In a statement, the ministry said the Drug Control Authority (DCA) made the decision at a meeting on Friday (July 16).

       “This conditional registration approval requires information on the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine product to be monitored and evaluated based on the latest data from time to time.

       “It is to ensure that the benefit over risk for the vaccines remain positive,” it said.

       The ministry said it strives to combat the pandemic by ensuring adequate supply of vaccines that have been evaluated for quality, safety and effectiveness by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division and approved by the DCA.

       “The government is committed to ensuring that the Malaysian adult population achieves herd immunity in line with the target of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.

       “The meeting had also given conditional approval to Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines that are manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. in Belgium.

       “This follows the Johnson & Johnson vaccines procured from the Covax facility which had been given conditional approval earlier on June 15,” it said in a statement on Friday.

       The immunisation programme now has a total of six vaccines within its portfolio: Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Cansino, and Johnson & Johnson.