Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X called to escort Covid-19 vaccines in Malaysia

The important news over the weekend was the arrival of the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia. But we’re more interested that the vaccine was escorted by 2 angry looking Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X police cars.

It has been a while since the Royal Malaysian Police’s (PDRM) Evo X has appeared on the news, the model has been flying under the radar for years.

These high-powered Evo X were delivered to PDRM back in 2008 and were known as Helang Lebuhraya Polis or Police Highway Eagles. PDRM uses the Eagles for highway pursuits, patrol duties, or VIP escorts.

Under the hood is a 4B11T 2.0-litre Mivec turbocharged engine mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. A total of 295 PS and 366 Nm is sent to all 4 wheels.

The Evo X police cars are also equipped with Mitsubishi’s S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) vehicle dynamics controller for good measure.

Did you know that the PDRM officers assigned to pilot the Eagles have to go through an extra 3-weeks of training on how to handle the beast before they can go out on official duties?

Over the weekend, 312,390 dozes of the Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine arrived in Malaysia from Singapore following its initial departure from Puurs, Belgium.

According to News Straits Times, the vaccine distribution will be handled by DHL Express. The company is the appointed agent for the global distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

The Covid-19 vaccination programme in Malaysia will start on 24 February 2021. More dozes of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will arrive on 26 February 2021 while the Sinovac Biotech vaccine from China is expected to arrive on 27 February 2021.