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SINGAPORE: Singapore received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Monday (December 21) evening, making it the first country in Asia to receive the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The shipment was transported on flight SQ7979 via Singapore Airlines (SIA) freighter 747-400, which departed from Brussels on Sunday and landed at Singapore Changi Airport at 7.36pm on Monday.
The vaccines were received by Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung and transported to SATS cold chain facilities for storage and ground transportation.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced on December 14 that Singapore authorities had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for pandemic use and that the first shipment would arrive in late December. The vaccine shipment comes a week before Singapore enters Phase 3 of its reopening on December 28.
READ: Singapore-approved Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, first shipment expected by end of December
READ: Data on Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Rigorously and Thoroughly Reviewed,’ HSA Says
Singapore is one of the first countries to approve and obtain COVID-19 vaccines. Others that have approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine include Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Bahrain and Qatar. Britain, the United States and Canada are already conducting vaccination exercises.
Vaccinations in Singapore will be voluntary and priority will be given to those most at risk, such as healthcare and frontline workers, as well as the elderly and vulnerable, Lee said.
Thereafter, a COVID-19 Vaccination Expert Committee proposed to progressively vaccinate the rest of the population and cover all who wish to be vaccinated by the end of 2021. Vaccines will be free for all Singaporeans, as well as residents to long-term currently in Singapore.
Lee has said that he and his cabinet colleagues will get vaccinated early to show everyone that they believe vaccines are safe. For the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, two doses are required, to be administered 21 days apart.
Singapore has also signed advance purchase agreements for other promising candidate vaccines, including those developed by Moderna and Sinovac.
READ: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac: A look at three key COVID-19 vaccines
The vaccine that arrived on Monday, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German firm BioNTech, has an efficacy rate of 95 percent. However, pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, and those under the age of 16 should not receive the vaccine, as safety and efficacy data from these groups are not yet available.
Additionally, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has said that people with a history of anaphylaxis or the rapid onset of severe allergic reactions should not receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as a precaution. This is similar to the warnings issued in Britain and the US.
The vaccine’s safety profile is “generally consistent” with other registered vaccines, according to the HSA. Some people may experience side effects such as pain, redness, swelling at the injection site, as well as fatigue, headache, and muscle pain after vaccination.
Although not everyone will experience these side effects, they are “common and expected” as part of the body’s natural response to building immunity against COVID-19, the HSA said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which uses mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) technology, must be kept below 70 degrees Celsius, which presents some logistical challenges.
The new technology uses genetic material in the form of mRNA to teach our cells to produce “spike proteins” that trigger an immune response. By contrast, traditional vaccines introduce a weakened or inactivated germ into our body.
Singapore’s first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines is unloaded at Changi Airport on December 21, 2020 (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The number of new COVID-19 cases in Singapore has declined significantly since peaking in April, largely due to widespread transmission in the migrant worker community.
Ten new COVID-19 cases were reported in Singapore on Monday, nine of which were imported, according to the daily update from the Ministry of Health.
Mr. Chin Yau Seng, SIA Senior Vice President of Cargo, said: “The delivery of this first batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Singapore is an important milestone in the fight against COVID-19, and we are honored to be able to play a part in this.
“It also served to demonstrate Singapore’s readiness for the all-important job of transporting and distributing COVID-19 vaccines internationally.”
SIA said it had conducted a successful shipping test on December 19 on the same freighter flight path using thermal chargers, which are also known as coolers. The internal temperature of each box was actively monitored during delivery.
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