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SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Health (MOH) appointed a 14-member committee to make recommendations to the government on its Covid-19 vaccination strategy and ensure the safe and effective use of coronavirus vaccines here.
On Thursday (November 12), the Health Ministry said in a press release that the committee is chaired by Associate Professor Benjamin Ong, senior adviser to the director of medical services. He is also senior vice president (education and health resources) at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The committee is made up of experts in infectious diseases, immunology, and other relevant fields. Its members include the Chief Health Scientist and Executive Director of the Health Care Transformation Office of the Ministry of Health, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan; Executive Director of the Singapore Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation, Dr. Danny Soon; and Vice President of Health and Wellness of the Economic Development Board, Dr. Lisa Ooi.
“The expert committee will draw on scientific and clinical experience to evaluate candidate vaccines and will recommend suitable vaccines for use against Covid-19 in Singapore when they become available,” the Health Ministry said.
The Ministry added that the committee’s role is to consider the most up-to-date information and assessment of Covid-19 vaccines, including closely monitoring the global vaccine development landscape and the stance of agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO ).
As the latest clinical data on vaccine candidates emerge, the expert committee will assess their safety, efficacy and suitability for use by different segments of the Singaporean population.
It will then make recommendations on the administration of vaccines to specific segments of the population and the overall vaccination strategy for Singapore.
The committee was first announced to the public at a press conference on November 10. The Health Ministry said Thursday that the appointment of the expert committee took effect on October 5.
It called its first meeting on October 13 and met regularly over the past month to discuss the profiles of various candidate vaccines, as well as the conditions for their deployment in the context of Singapore.
Professor Ong said Thursday that as more candidate vaccines become available for clinical use, ensuring that they are safe and effective will be a top priority for the committee, especially since not all vaccines are suitable for all segments of the population. population.
He added: “The safety of Singaporeans is our highest priority, and the diverse range of experience among my colleagues on the Expert Committee will put us in a good position as we deliberate on strategies for the implementation of Covid-19 vaccination in Singapore.” .
The committee is made up of:
Chair
Associate Professor Benjamin Ong, Senior Advisor to the Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health and Senior Vice President (Health Education and Resources), NUS
Members
1) Dr. Cheong Wei Yang, Undersecretary (Special Projects), Ministry of Health
2) Associate Professor Chong Chia Yin, Director of Clinical Quality and Patient Safety in the Division of Medicine and Senior Consultant for the Infectious Diseases Service of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital
3) Professor Nicholas Gascoigne, Immunology Program and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
4) Associate Professor Lim Poh Lian, Director of the High Level Isolation Unit at the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and Director of the Vaccination and Traveler Health Clinic at Tan Tock Seng Hospital
5) Associate Professor David Lye, Director, NCID Office of Infectious Disease Research and Training
6) Adjunct Professor Helen Oh, Senior Consultant, Infectious Diseases Department, Changi General Hospital
7) Dr. Lisa Ooi, Vice President of Health and Wellness, Economic Development Board
8) Dr. Anuradha Poonepalli, Regulatory Consultant, Therapeutic Products Branch, Health Products Regulation Group, Health Sciences Authority
9) Associate Professor Ren Ee Chee, Principal Investigator of the Singapore Immunology Network and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, NUS Yong Loo Lin College of Medicine
10) Professor Laurent Renia, Executive Director and Senior Principal Investigator, Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A * Star) and Senior Principal Investigator, Singapore Immunology Network, A * Star
11) Dr. Benjamin Seet, Group Research Director of the National Healthcare Group
12) Dr. Danny Soon, Executive Director of the Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation Singapore
13) Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, Chief Health Scientist and Executive Director of the Ministry of Health Office for the Transformation of Healthcare
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