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SINGAPORE: The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said on Monday (March 22) that it began reviewing data on China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine.
It also requested additional data from the biopharmaceutical company and is waiting for it, the HSA said in response to CNA inquiries.
Singapore received its first shipment of the Sinovac vaccine on February 23. HSA said at the time that Sinovac had begun submitting initial data and was awaiting submission of all the information necessary to carry out its assessment.
The vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech of China has been approved for general use in China and is already in use in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
In Singapore, the Sinovac vaccine is being evaluated, but its use has not yet been licensed, the HSA said.
“HSA has asked the company for the additional data necessary to assess whether it can meet the required standards of quality, safety and efficacy for provisional authorization under the Pandemic Special Access Route, and is still waiting for the company to submit the data. said authority.
READ: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac: A Look at Three Key COVID-19 Vaccines
On Monday, HSA said it has also been in discussions with several companies, including AstraZeneca, about their COVID-19 vaccine rollout plans.
“All vaccines are rigorously evaluated by the HSA for quality, safety and efficacy before they are approved for use in Singapore,” the authority said.
READ: EU and UK Drug Regulators Support AstraZeneca Vaccine After Safety Concerns
More than a dozen countries suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines earlier this month, following reports of blood clotting among some recipients in Europe.
Many countries, including France, Germany and Indonesia, have since said that they will resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, after an investigation by the European Medicines Agency concluded that the benefits outweighed the risks.
READ: AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is ‘haram’, but permissible due to urgent situation: Islamic body of Indonesia
Singapore has so far authorized the use of two COVID-19 vaccines.
The country began its vaccination campaign in December with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the first vaccine to reach Singapore.
Moderna’s vaccine was approved for use in early February, with the first shipment arriving two weeks later.
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