PUTRAJAYA, June 2 — The cost of COVID-19 vaccination service at private facilities includes the price of the vaccine and several charges set by the private hospital and medical practitioners concerned, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said.
The charges included consultation fees in the Seventh Schedule under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586); service charge; and charges for consumable items used when handling COVID-19 vaccine injections, he said.
He said that the COVID-19 ceiling price was set under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723) prior to this and private medical practitioners must comply with it, and it did not include the handling of the vaccination service.
The government had set the maximum retail and wholesale prices for two CoronaVac brand COVID-19 vaccine products by Sinovac and Covilo by Sinopharm effective last Jan 15.
The maximum retail price for CoronaVac Suspension for Injection SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated with registration numbers MAL21036010ARZ and MAL21046125ACSZ is RM77, while the wholesale price is set at RM62 per dose.
For the vaccine, COVILO Suspension for Injection COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated with registration number MAL21076098AZ, the maximum retail price is RM77 and the wholesale price RM62 per dosage.
“As such, the final cost that has to be paid by the consumer encompasses the cost of COVID-19 vaccines, namely, the maximum retail price set, consultant fee, service charge and the charges for consumable items,” he said in a statement today.
The statement was issued in response to a report titled ‘Govt not controlling process of COVID-19 vaccines at private hospitals’.
