12 New Facts About S’pore’s Vaccination Strategy That’s Revealed in Parliament

By now, you’ve already known that Singapore has received its first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

In fact, you might’ve already heard that about 40 people already took the vaccine and there’s no adverse allergic reaction yet.

But did you know that we’ll be receiving different types of vaccines in the coming months? And that the vaccine programme currently in place can be amended?

Here are 12 new facts about Singapore’s vaccination strategy that’s been revealed recently in Parliament.

1. More Vaccines Expected To Arrive In The Coming Months

In Health Minister Gan Kim Yong’s parliamentary speech, he revealed that more vaccines will be arriving in Singapore in the coming months, and it’s not just Pfizer’s.

Vaccines from Moderna and Sinovac will be arriving as well.

If the vaccines arrive on schedule, there’ll be enough vaccines for everyone in Singapore in the third quarter of the year.

2. Who’s Vaccinated & Who’s Next?

Previously, it was reported that Singapore’s vaccination strategy will give priority to the vulnerable and frontline, as well as healthcare, workers.

The Singapore Covid-19 vaccination plan kicked off with healthcare workers.

Other prioritised groups include frontline and essential personnel like Health Promotion Board’s swabbers, staff working in community care facilities, quarantine facilities and dedicated stay-at-home facilities.

From February, the elderly (70 years old and above), a group particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, and people working in sectors where the risk of a super spread is high will be given the opportunity to be vaccinated.

Then, the vaccination programme will be gradually rolled out to the rest of the population.

3. Who Gets Free Vaccinations?

Vaccinations aren’t cheap. Thankfully, the Singapore government is making it free for Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders.

This include:

• S-Pass
• Work Permit Holder
• Foreign Domestic Workers
• Long-term visit pass
• Dependant’s Pass holder
• Student’s pass

4. Making Bookings

You can’t exactly walk into a vaccination site and say you want to get vaccinated.

People who want a vaccination will have to make a booking.

Not only is it necessary given the troublesome requirements of storing the vaccines, but it’ll also help streamline the process and minimise wait time.

You won’t want a case of what happened in Florida:

As for how you can make a booking, that’ll be revealed later.

5. Physical Vaccination Card

People who opt to receive a vaccination will be given a physical vaccination card.

They’ll also be able to check their vaccination record online.

The vaccination card will indicate the vaccine that was administered and the date for the second vaccine dose.

Brief post-vaccination advice will also be printed on the card.

6. No Choosing Of Vaccines

Currently, there is only one type of Covid-19 vaccine available in Singapore.

But even if there are more than one, people cannot choose which to take as it will complicate what is “already a complex vaccination programme”.

The allocation of vaccines will be given according to the suitability for various sub-groups in the population, as well as vaccine availability.

7. Effectiveness Of Vaccine On New Strain Of Covid-19 Virus

The new variant of the coronavirus which is 70% more transmissible than current Covid-19 strains will not affect the effectiveness of the vaccine.

According to the health minister, there is no evidence to show that the vaccine is less effective against the new strain.

Moreover, both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech has come out to say that their vaccines are likely to protect against the new strain as well.

Both companies are now undertaking studies to formally verify their claims.

8. What If I Get Side Effects?

Just because there’s no serious side effects or allergic reactions yet doesn’t mean there won’t be.

So what happens if you get vaccinated and you start experiencing negative side effects?

Don’t worry because they’ve planned for that as well.

After administering the vaccination, you’ll be required to stay on-site for 30 minutes for observation.

This is so that if there’s an allergic reaction, they can treat it promptly.

They will also be creating a new programme under the Ministry of Health to help those who suffer from adverse side effects after getting vaccinated.

Mr Gan added that he doesn’t expect many people to need this programme.

9. Requirement For Vaccine Selection

Pfizer, Moderna and Sinovac aren’t the only vaccines available.

But as for whether more types of Covid-19 vaccines will join the list of vaccines approved for use in Singapore, that remains to be seen.

In a bid to keep people as safe as possible, vaccines, before they can be approved for use here, must have an efficacy rate of at least 50 per cent.

They’ll also take into account factors like the “potential risk of adverse reactions” and how severe the Covid-19 situation here in Singapore is.

The government will assess the pros and cons of new vaccines “holistically” before approving it for use here.

10. No Fully Registered Vaccine in S’pore Yet

In parliament, it was revealed that there is no Covid-19 vaccine fully-approved for use.

Yes, not even Pfizer.

And the reason why this is so because more information has to be submitted before the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) gives the vaccine the full registration.

The Singapore government has to see how the vaccine rolls out, keep track of its performance and become aware of all the risks.

Typically, Mr Gan pointed out, the process takes a year, sometimes two or more.

As for why we’re using Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine despite it not having full registration, that’s because of the pandemic.

But that doesn’t mean safety is neglected.

11. Safety Above All

In order for a vaccine to be approved, experts from HSA will first study the vaccine in question under the Pandemic Special Access Route.

The vaccines will be studied against “strict international standards of quality, safety and efficacy”.

Data from pre-clinical studies in laboratories, clinical trials on human volunteers, manufacturing and quality controls will be studied.

Only after HSA has studied the vaccine carefully and deem the benefits to outweigh the risk, will it be approved for interim use.

After HSA’s approval, an independent expert committee will review the clinical data of the vaccine.

12. Not Getting Vaccinated Doesn’t Mean You’re Fired

So, say you’re working in the frontline but you really, really hate needles.

How? Will not taking the vaccination lead to you losing your job?

After all, it was previously reported that employers cannot force their employees to go for the Covid-19 vaccination unwillingly.

Well, worry not because according to Mr Gan, people who choose to forgo the vaccination do not need to change their jobs, unless there is a spike in local transmission cases again.

Necessary precautions like mask-wearing, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and going for rostered routine testing must still be practised.

As for staff on the frontline against Covid-19 such as laboratory researchers and caring for Covid-19 patients, the Health and Manpower ministries will see how they can vaccinate them in the near future.

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