Govt not controlling Covid-19 vaccine prices at private health facilities

The government does not control the price of the Covid-19 vaccines administered by private health facilities following the end of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) yesterday, Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said.

He said the cost of vaccination, including consultancy charges, vaccine price and consumables, depended entirely on the private health facilities offering the service.

“The price of vaccine will follow the ceiling price, this depends on the private sector because they have to buy the vaccine and charge for consultancy, consumables and so on.

“It depends on each facility, and the price will vary,” he said after officiating an event in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Noor Azmi was recently reported as saying that the health ministry did not intend to extend the PICKids programme as it had given enough time to parents to bring their children to get vaccinated for free.

He said after this, parents would have to take their children to get vaccinated at private clinics for a fee.

He also said the health ministry is now focused on fully vaccinating children who turn five on or after May 31.

“Children who have yet to turn five years old will continue to be given the opportunity to register and make an appointment through the link provided until Jan 31, 2023.

“For children who have registered for PICKids but are infected with Covid-19, they are asked to defer until they recover for at least six weeks, after which they can go to a health clinic to get an appointment to get the vaccine, which ends on Aug 31,” he said.