[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – Singapore on Tuesday received its first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech, its health ministry said, although the injection is still pending approval for use in the city-state.
Sinovac has started to send initial data, but the Health Sciences Authority is currently awaiting all the necessary information to carry out a comprehensive evaluation, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday night.
Singapore is the only wealthy country that is considering the use of the Sinovac vaccine, which studies have found to have an efficacy rate ranging from 50% to 90%.
The city-state has been implementing its COVID-19 vaccination program for the past two months. It has approved shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
The government has previously refused to provide specific details about agreements reached with vaccine manufacturers.
As an island nation that relies heavily on travel and trade, the Singaporean government wants to boost its economy with the help of the vaccine. Singapore aims to vaccinate its entire population of nearly six million people by the end of 2021.
Singapore has reported very few new cases of local coronavirus in recent months.
Since the outbreak began, it has recorded a total of nearly 60,000 infections, most of which occurred in crowded foreign workers’ dormitories. Only 29 people have died from the disease in Singapore, according to its health ministry.
China, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand are among the countries that have approved the Sinovac vaccine.
For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.
What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare leaders and still accepts cash donations to be deposited into the Banco de Oro (BDO) checking account # 007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this Link .
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
