Singapore

SINGAPORE has made arrangements with various pharmaceutical companies to facilitate their clinical trials and drug development in Singapore, with the government having attracted a few players to establish vaccine manufacturing capabilities here.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said this in a televised address on Monday as he gave an update on Singapore's Covid-19 vaccination plans.

He said the government has been working quietly behind the scenes, from the early days of the pandemic, to secure access to vaccines.

"This was not a simple exercise. More than 200 vaccine candidates were being developed, and not all would succeed," he said.

"We started talking to the pharmaceutical companies early to understand the science, and identify the promising candidates and the ones likely to come to production sooner."

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More than S$1 billion was set aside, with Mr Lee revealing that the government placed "multiple bets" to sign advance purchase agreements and make early down-payments for the "most promising" candidates, including with Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sinovac.

He also spoke of how the government supported local efforts to develop a vaccine. This not only gave scientists and researchers here the opportunity to do "cutting edge work", but doing so also acted as a form of insurance in case the global supply chain was disrupted.

"This way, we built up a diversified portfolio of options to ensure that Singapore would be near the front of the queue for vaccines, and not last in line," said Mr Lee.

On Monday, the Health Sciences Authority said it has granted interim authorisation to the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, making it the first vaccine to be approved for use here.

The first shipment is due to arrive in Singapore by the end of this month, with others expected to follow in the coming months.

The authorisation was given under the Pandemic Special Access Route (PSAR), which allows the HSA to start evaluating new vaccines, medicines and medical devices from the early stages of clinical studies, instead of waiting for full data sets to be submitted.

Separately, the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination appointed by the Ministry of Health urged all medically eligible persons to be voluntarily vaccinated - starting with groups at greater risk, such as healthcare workers and the elderly.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires two doses of vaccine to be administered 21 days apart, for those aged 16 years and above. Pregnant women, immunocompromised persons and those under 16 should not get the vaccine for now, as safety and efficacy data on these groups are not yet available.

As a precautionary measure, those with a history of anaphylaxis - the rapid onset of severe allergic reactions - should also not be vaccinated.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has a 95 per cent efficacy rate in its clinical trials on over 40,000 participants aged 16 to 91 years, and its safety profile is "generally consistent" with other registered vaccines, the HSA said in a statement.

Possible side effects cited by the HSA include pain, redness, swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headache, muscle ache, fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and joint pain.

These side effects are "common and expected as part of the body's natural response", and "usually resolve within a few days", said the authority.

The HSA added that in granting its approval, it had considered data from studies and trials, manufacturing and quality controls, and the conditions for the safe distribution and supply of the vaccine.

It also consulted experts from HSA's Medicines Advisory Committee and Panel of Infectious Diseases Experts, comprising medical doctors and infectious diseases specialists.

As a condition for the interim authorisation granted, Pfizer and BioNTech will be required to monitor the longer-term efficacy of the vaccine to determine the duration of protection against Covid-19.

They will also be required to follow up on the safety of the vaccine, including the effects on groups such as pregnant women and children.

At a press conference on Monday, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that like most other vaccinations in Singapore, the Covid-19 vaccinations will not be mandatory, out of respect for the "people's choice".

The government will launch a public education campaign to persuade as many medically-eligible persons to be vaccinated as possible.

He also stressed that vaccinations should not be seen as a single instrument in Singapore's fight against Covid-19, and that other measures such as safe distancing and aggressive testing must continue.

"We have to be very careful with the idea of vaccinations," added Mr Gan. "Currently, vaccination protects the person who is vaccinated. On whether there is protection against transmission from the person who is vaccinated, to another person - the evidence is still being studied."

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