Everything About the Arrival of First Shipment of COVID-19 Vaccines in S’pore

Yes, you’ve heard that right.

The first batch of Covid-19 vaccines has arrived in Singapore, almost a year after the first Covid-19 case was officially declared in Singapore.

So what does that mean? Does it mean life will return to normal soon? Will we get to fly to Bangkok and eat their omelette rice on the streets again?

Well, not really.

Here’s what you need to know about the arrival of the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines into Singapore.

First In Asia

In the evening of 21 Dec 2020, Singapore became the first country in Asia to take in the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine which has performed miraculously in clinical trials.

The flight transporting the vaccines, Singapore Airlines SQ7979, left Brussels on Sunday and touched down on Singapore soil at 7.36pm on Monday.

The vaccines were subsequently transported to SATS cold-chain facility to prepare for storage and transportation because the vaccine needs to be stored at -70°C.

When interviewed, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung revealed that receiving the vaccines mean more than just vaccinating our people.

It’s also a good business opportunity.

A Regional Hub For Vaccines

When talking to reporters, Mr Ong revealed that Singapore has aspirations to become the transport and distribution hub for the vaccines in the region.

Vaccines, while effective against viruses like Covid-19, has very troublesome storage and transport requirements.

Just think back to South Korea’s vaccination against influenza. Millions of dosage were spoiled because the vaccines were stored improperly.

Other than Singapore Airlines trialling flights to fly a large number of vaccines between countries, Singapore logistic firms have also trained to meet the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO) when handling the cargo safely.

Mr Ong also pointed out that Singapore has the necessary capacity required to carry out some work.

The estimated cargo for vaccines worldwide next year is 65,000 tonnes. SATS, he said, has handled 300,000 tonnes of “temperature-controlled cargo” last year.

In addition, the ChangiTaskForce has been prepping for the eventuality of transporting and storing vaccines.

When they first knew about Pfizer’s vaccine needing minus-seventy-degrees temperature, they looked into producing dry ice themselves.

Today, SATS can produce 4 tonnes of dry ice on a daily basis.

While other countries would likely prefer a direct point-to-point path for their vaccines, since it’s faster, he believes that there will be a demand for both transportation and distribution of vaccines to the region “when things stabilise”.

“A Welcomed Present”

PM Lee Hsien Loong, who gave a speech filled with good news on 14 Dec 2020 before going on leave shortly after, shared on Facebook that the safe arrival of the first batch of vaccines is a “welcome present” for everyone.

“It’s been a long and arduous year. I hope that this news will give Singaporeans cheer this festive season, and reason to be optimistic for 2021.”

He thanked everyone involved for helping to contribute to this outcome and said the multi-ministry task force will reveal the details for the vaccines soon.

The Vaccination Plan

Currently, Singapore’s plan for vaccination is to give priority to groups like the elderly, the frontline and healthcare workers and vulnerable groups.

Then, it’ll be progressively rolled out to the rest of the population.

It was estimated that Singapore will have enough Covid-19 vaccines for everyone by the third quarter of 2021.

There are, however, groups of people who are advised not to be vaccinated first.

They include:

• people under the age of sixteen
• pregnant women
• those a history of anaphylaxis or the rapid onset of severe allergic reactions

Voluntary Vaccination

Getting vaccinated is voluntary even though experts have said that everyone who is medically eligible should be vaccinated.

It was noted that it wouldn’t be fair to make it compulsory when they are still studying the side effects and length of immunity granted by it.

PM Lee says, however, that he and his colleagues in the cabinet will be getting vaccinated first to show that they believe the vaccine to be safe for use.

Over in the US, President-Elect Joe Biden has taken the first step to show that it’s safe but taking the vaccine in front of millions of cameras:

The vaccines will be free for all Singaporeans as well as long-term residents here.

For those who are wondering if they should get themselves vaccinated earlier, you might want to check out the pros and cons of getting vaccinated earlier here.

Not A Magical Solution

While a vaccine is said to be the one thing that’ll truly end this pandemic, don’t take this to be a magic solution, PM Lee had said.

Even when we have the vaccines, people should not let down their guards and continue adhering to safe management measures.

After all, there are still a few things left unknown about the vaccine.

One would be the length of immunity granted by the vaccine, and the other, whether a person who is vaccinated would still be able to transmit the coronavirus (just like an asymptomatic case).

So keep your masks on, practise safe distancing, use TraceTogether and continue to keep to the prescribed group sizes.

As for whether you can travel overseas, it entirely depends on how your destination handles the Covid-19 situation.

So for those who hope to go to Thailand, here’s some bad news for you.

Feature Image: Facebook (Ong Ye Kung)