Singapore's HSA to vet Sinovac vaccine before public roll-out

Singapore

A CORONAVIRUS vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech will have to go through regulatory scrutiny and authorisation by Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA) before it can be rolled out to the public, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said on Wednesday.

This update follows the release of data on a Brazilian trial on Tuesday, which showed that the Sinovac vaccine was just 50.4 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic infections. This barely meets the threshold for regulatory approval and is well below the rate announced last week.

The Sinovac vaccine has yet to be approved, Mr Gan told reporters on Wednesday, after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only authorised one in Singapore.

"We will go through the data carefully when it comes, rather than depend on reported numbers. It's better to rely on official data that we receive from Sinovac itself," he said.

The HSA will assess the data when it is in, and the nation's Covid-19 expert committee will also evaluate its suitability for vaccination in Singapore, he said.

Another vaccine candidate, developed by United States firm Moderna, has also submitted its data and is being reviewed by the HSA, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who also took his first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday.

"If and when the Moderna vaccine is authorised for use, we will also use it for the vaccination programme," said the minister, who co-chairs Singapore's Covid-19 multi-ministry task force with Mr Gan.

Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are mRNA vaccines and have similar efficacy rates of around 95 per cent. mRNA is a genetic material that cells read to make proteins.

"I would think between the two, it's quite straightforward. Either one will do," Mr Wong said.

The Sinovac vaccine is an inactivated vaccine, a platform that has been used in many other shots, such as the polio vaccine.

"But we still need to look at the data, we still need to see if it's more efficacious - for example for specific sub-segments, we don't know yet," he added, stressing that a detailed and comprehensive review will need to be done.

He urged the public to come forward to get vaccinated, instead of waiting for a specific brand of vaccine to be authorised, something which may or may not materialise.

More than 6,200 people have received their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine since Singapore kicked off its vaccination drive. Eight vaccination centres will be set up by the end of February.

These include two centres at Changi Airport Terminal 4 and Raffles City Convention Centre, which are already operational; another two centres, at the former Hong Kah Secondary School and Woodlands Galaxy Community Club, will be ready next week.

Four more centres will be ready in February, and more will be progressively opened as Singapore expands its vaccination programme, said Mr Gan. Shots will also be given at polyclinics and general practitioner clinics.

Singapore's nationwide vaccination drive kicked off on Dec 30. If all goes to plan, the country will have enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone by the third quarter of 2021.

Those who have already started receiving their jabs include healthcare workers in public and private hospitals, Home Team officers involved in front-line healthcare operations, staff from Ren Ci's Bukit Batok nursing home, as well as eligible staff from Singapore Airlines.

The elderly will start receiving their Covid-19 vaccinations from later this month. A booking system will be set up and letters will be sent out to inform the elderly of when they can make bookings for their vaccinations. THE STRAITS TIMES