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SINGAPORE: There is “minimal waste” of COVID-19 vaccine doses at Singapore vaccination sites, with usage rates carefully monitored through appointments, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday (March 26).
Monitoring allows advance planning of vaccine needs, to facilitate shipping and delivery of an adequate number of doses to vaccination sites, the ministry told CNA.
“The providers of the vaccination site also dilute and launch a new vial only when they have verified that there are people waiting for vaccination, to avoid wasting vaccines,” said the Ministry of Health.
“In case there are additional doses of vaccine left, there are pre-planned lists of people who will be invited to get vaccinated.
“These could be staff working at vaccination sites or front-line volunteers who take an active role in involving older people in vaccinations,” the Health Ministry said.
The ministry was responding to inquiries from the CNA about unused vaccine doses.
READ: How COVID-19 vaccines are transported to Singapore and stored here
Singapore has licensed two COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for use here. Both vaccines require two doses to complete the entire vaccination regimen.
Each vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine contains up to six doses, while each vial of the Moderna vaccine contains up to 10 doses, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
For both vaccines, the vials must be kept refrigerated and used within six hours of dilution. After six hours, any remaining vaccines must be discarded, according to the CDC website.
READ: India worries about wasting COVID-19 ‘elixir-like’ vaccines
Other countries have had to deal with vaccine waste. Health officials in India said earlier this month that about 6.5 percent of vaccine doses there will be wasted, due to a lack of public awareness of the vaccine in rural areas.
In Japan, a freezer malfunction disabled more than 1,000 injections of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the country’s health ministry said this month.
South Korea allowed additional doses to be withdrawn from the vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines after health workers noticed that additional doses remained in the vials after the recommended amount had been administered.
READ: Singapore made advance purchases of COVID-19 vaccines, including Sinovac
Singapore has administered more than 1.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of March 23, according to the Ministry of Health.
More than 799,000 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than 300,000 have completed both doses of the vaccine.
The Health Ministry said earlier this month that while its focus had been to vaccinate priority groups out of public health considerations, it would consider allowing Singapore citizens and permanent residents with “very exceptional circumstances” to receive their vaccination sooner than as more vaccine supplies arrive.
On March 22, the Health Ministry told CNA that it had received around 6,900 appeals from Singapore residents requesting an early vaccination. Most of the appeals cited traveling abroad for work, study and other purposes, the Health Ministry said.
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