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SINGAPORE, Dec.14 – Authorities here have approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for domestic use, with the first shipment arriving in the country by the end of the month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a national address today.
And “if all goes according to plan,” there will be enough vaccines for everyone in Singapore by the third quarter of 2021, he added.
Introducing Singapore’s Covid-19 vaccination strategy as part of a televised statement, Lee said the vaccine will be available free of charge to all Singaporeans and all long-term residents now in the country.
The government has also accepted the recommendations of a committee of experts to make vaccines voluntary, as well as a goal to vaccinate the entire adult population, it revealed.
The first priority for vaccines will be healthcare workers, front-line personnel, the elderly and the vulnerable. The rest of the population can then be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
To show that they believe the vaccine is safe to use, Lee said he and his colleagues will get vaccinated early.
“I strongly encourage you to also get vaccinated when they offer you the vaccine, because when you get vaccinated, you are not only protecting yourself, you are also doing your part to protect others, especially your loved ones,” he said. said.
Doing so will make it harder for the coronavirus to spread, Lee added.
First to be approved in Singapore
The first vaccine to be approved here was jointly developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, and several regulators also gave the green light for its emergency use last week, including the US Food and Drug Administration on last Friday.
The vaccine has also been approved in Britain, where some people have already received it.
The approval of Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA) marks a major step forward in the country’s fight against coronavirus, which will depend on how soon Covid-19 vaccines become available here.
Vaccines from other drug manufacturers are expected to arrive in Singapore in the coming months, Lee said.
Singapore has so far set aside more than S $ 1 billion in its effort to secure vaccines for the country, such as by signing advance purchase agreements and down payments for promising vaccine candidates, including those from American biotech firm Moderna and the Sinovac Biotech vaccine from China. .
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was shown in clinical trials to be 95 percent effective against Covid-19 in the first 28 days after the first dose was administered, while Moderna and Sinovac also reported similar success rates.
Several pharmaceutical companies have also established vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Singapore, Lee said.
The government has also supported vaccine development efforts here as “insurance” in case global supply chains are disrupted, he added. Singapore’s Duke-NUS School of Medicine is working with US-based biotechnology firm Arcturus Therapeutics to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, which is reportedly on track for delivery in 2021.
“In this way, we created a diversified portfolio of options to ensure that Singapore would be at the front of the line for vaccines and not last in line,” said Lee.
He noted that global vaccine distribution will also support the country’s recovery “in more ways than one,” pointing to Singapore’s crucial role in transporting vaccines around the world given its strengths in cargo handling.
“Now that the vaccines are available, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. As vaccines become widespread not only in Singapore, but also in our region and the world, we can look forward to resuming a more normal life. “- TODAY
