PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry must first study the effectiveness and side effects of Sputnik V, Russian Covid-19 vaccine, before starting to use it in Malaysia.
Its director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry had yet to receive research data on the vaccine.
"We have many questions but there are no answers (to them). These questions include the effectiveness of the vaccine. How long can the antibody last? Do we need a booster? What is the booster dose?
"What we know so far is that the vaccine has been registered. But there is no scientific evidence of the vaccine.
"It's crucial to know the effectiveness and the side effects of the vaccine. We are also not sure whether the phase three clinical trial of the vaccine has been completed. We need to look at all this before we can recommend its usage in the country," he said at the Covid-19 press conference here today.
President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia had developed the first vaccine offering "sustainable immunity" against the coronavirus.
Earlier at the Parliament, Deputy Health Minister II Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang said Malaysia would take a wait-and-see approach to Sputnik V.
Dr Noor Hisham also said the Form Five student from a school in Seri Pantai, Lembah Pantai, was cleared of Covid-19 following the two RT-PCR tests done within 24-hour came back negative.
"The patient has symptoms such as diarrhea and fever. We have run two tests and one came back positive for dengue and the student is being treated for dengue.
"While we were waiting for the result of the rapid test kit antigen (RTK-Ag) for Covid-19, the Ministry went ahead screening 54 close contacts with the said student including 42 people from the secondary school, four family members, five family friends and three medical staff. All 54 are tested negative for Covid-19," he said.