Everything About S’pore Approach to COVID-19 Vaccines That All S’poreans Should Know

Lest you’re not aware, countries all over the world have started to vaccinate their residents against COVID-19, or started to plan how to do so.

Which is surprising, given that a vaccine requires years to develop and approval would take forever.

But with COVID-19 killing both lives and livelihoods, everything’s been on wrap speed, including the development and the approval process.

And it’s the same for Singapore, the country that’s well-known for its efficiency.

Because we’d have the vaccines by this month.

Everything About S’pore Approach to COVID-19 Vaccines That All S’poreans Should Know

To secure early access to safe and effective vaccines for our population, the government’s discussions with pharmaceutical companies that had promising vaccine candidates began in May 2020.

Singapore has signed Advance Purchase Agreements with Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinovac, and are in discussions with a few other pharmaceutical companies, and if you’ve been reading the news, these companies have developed very promising vaccines that other countries are using.

Singapore has secured enough vaccines for all people in Singapore.

HSA has since received enough scientific and clinical data, evaluated the available evidence and authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for pandemic use in Singapore.

Pfizer has indicated that the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will arrive in Singapore by around the end of this month.

Subsequent batches from the three companies will arrive over the course of next year, though it should be noted that HSA has yet to authorise them yet.

The goal is to get all Singaporeans and long-term residents in Singapore to be able to get vaccinated by end-2021, if there are no unforeseen disruptions to vaccine shipments.

While COVID-19 vaccination will be voluntary, Singapore strongly encourages everyone who is 16 and above to get vaccinated when the vaccine is offered.

To ensure the accessibility of the vaccine and enable us to achieve a higher rate of vaccination for the population, this vaccination will be free.

Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines would require two doses with an interval of 21 days.

But it’s not a first-come-first-serve basis. Yet.

Vaccine supply will be limited globally at the outset and will arrive in Singapore in batches over several months as manufacturers ramp up production of vaccines.

You know, just like how masks used to be highly sought-after and are now available everywhere.

Therefore, the authorities will progressively vaccinate our entire population, with the first priority for those who are at greater risk and hence most in need of COVID-19 vaccination, such as healthcare workers and COVID-19 frontline workers, and vulnerable groups, in terms of age and health, at greater risk of severe disease from COVID-19 infection.

This is consistent with WHO’s recommendations.

The Expert Committee set up for vaccination strategy has issued a preliminary set of recommendations which the government has accepted, and it will be sharing its detailed advice on the overall vaccination strategy for Singapore and its specific recommendations on each of the vaccines in the coming weeks, as more scientific and clinical data become available.

And also, just like in the US, PM Lee will be taking the vaccine to show us that it’s safe.

Whether it’ll be in TikTok or not is up to anyone’s guess.

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