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SINGAPORE – Singapore will make decisions regarding the approval of vaccines based on scientific and health care needs, and will not be pressured when it comes to decisions on such matters, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament on Monday ( March 1st).
“You can’t buy us, you can’t intimidate us, you can’t intimidate us into approving or disapproving any vaccine,” said Dr. Balakrishnan, who spoke during the Foreign Ministry’s budget debate.
“There will be pressure on us, there will be tug of war, but we must conduct this as another example of foreign policy, in a principled way,” he said in response to the President of the Workers’ Party, Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC). who had noticed that the distribution patterns of Covid-19 vaccines around the world reflected a certain power play along with traditional alliances.
Dr Balakrishnan said that Singapore will be an important reference customer when it comes to vaccines, precisely because the world knows that the country bases its decisions on scientific and health needs, as opposed to other factors.
Ms. Lim also asked if the countries joining the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) facility face any restrictions in reaching bilateral agreements for the purchase of the Covid-19 vaccine, and whether such bilateral agreements will represent an obstacle. for the success of the Covax program. which aims to acquire, equitably distribute, and administer two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of this year.
Dr Balakrishnan explained that under Covax’s global risk-sharing mechanism, countries with more resources, including Singapore, would make upfront market commitments for vaccines.
This would incentivize multiple pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines in a timely manner, despite significant commercial risk. “If there were not such a facility to pool risk and thus incentivize this rapid simultaneous development of vaccines, we would not be in this happy situation,” he explained, referring to the advancement of promising vaccine candidates that Singapore and others countries had advanced. The purchase agreements now have been approved by the health authorities and are being used in several countries.
While putting money in the collective pot entitles Singapore to receive its fair share of Covid-19 vaccines based on full market price, a “significant amount” will be pledged to help support less-favored countries, he explained. Dr. Balakrishnan.
This ensures that there will be some vaccines available to countries around the world, especially essential workers, avoiding a situation where only countries that can afford the vaccines have access to them.
He also clarified that Singapore’s contribution of $ 5 million (S $ 6.7 million) to the Advance Market Commitment under the Covax facility, which guarantees access to vaccines for developing countries, is not intended specifically for the Asean.
Singapore has a separate Asean Covid-19 Response Fund, to which it has also committed funds and which will be used based on the needs of the Asean family, it added. In November, it was announced that Singapore will contribute US $ 100,000 to the fund, which helps member states acquire the medical supplies and equipment needed to combat the pandemic.
In addition to contributing to the fund, Singapore has also separately provided test kits, personal protective equipment and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines for the detection of Covid-19, among other things, to non-governmental and non-governmental organizations. governments around the world. the region.
“We have not played our drums on it, but that good work has been done and appreciated by our neighbors,” said Dr. Balakrishnan.
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