KUALA LUMPUR: Over half of the RM5bil allocated for the National Covid-19 Immuni–sation Programme has been spent as at August, says Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.

       The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister told the Dewan Rakyat the bulk of the RM2.6bil or 92% of the expenditure, had been used for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines and logistics of the programme.

       “Another RM210mil was allocated for the outsourcing of the immunisation programme to private medical practitioners, and the cost of the Health Ministry’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme assets, amounting to RM19mil.

       “The cost for consumables came up to RM11mil while vaccine education materials, including vaccination cards and permission forms, cost RM1.9mil.

       “The cost of managing the implementation of Covid-19 vaccination amounted to RM1.3mil, while the cost of post-immunisation surveillance and upgrading of the Health Ministry’s system stood at RM443,000,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Yeo Bee Yin (Bakri-PH) during Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

       Yeo had asked the ministry to reveal the total amount spent under the programme.

       To the initial question, Dr Adham said RM314.05mil out of the RM1bil allocated to his ministry for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme had been spent.

       He explained that the allocation was divided into several main categories including to support the operations cost of vaccination centres, to boost data and systems integration to process vaccine administration, as well as to boost registration in each parliamentary constituency.