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Singapore has received about 200,000 doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine as part of advanced purchases made last year, but these will not be used until the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has approved the vaccine.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Wednesday (March 24) said the HSA has asked the Chinese vaccine maker for more detailed data, so it can make an "adequate, full assessment" of its vaccine.
The HSA is unable to complete its evaluation and give its provisional approval until that additional data is submitted, said the Health Ministry's director of medical services Kenneth Mak.
They were responding during a virtual multi-ministry task force press conference to a question on why Singapore received the Sinovac vaccine before HSA had authorised it, and whether the Republic was unable to turn down the shipments because it "wanted to avoid potentially upsetting Beijing".
Singapore had received its first shipment of the Sinovac vaccine last month.
Mr Gan, who co-chairs the task force, said the delivery was made under a contract with the vaccine maker.
He noted that having the Sinovac vaccines ready in Singapore will also speed up its roll-out once approval has been given.
Singapore had made advanced purchase agreements for three vaccines - the ones developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac, even before any approvals were made.
These advance purchase agreements included a timeline on when the manufacturers would deliver the vaccines to Singapore.
By making advanced purchase agreements, the Government was making some bets on the vaccines, recognising that some may not be effective, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong.
"We wanted to do so early, so we would be early in the queue. So that was the basis we went about making these advance purchases. But after these purchases, they will start completing trials, submitting data, and then they have to be subject to HSA's approval," added Mr Wong, the task force co-chair.
HSA had also designed a pandemic-specific approval framework which allowed vaccine companies to submit their data for approval as soon as it became available instead of waiting for a complete set of data, Associate Professor Mak said.
This allowed the evaluation process to start early, he added.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...-covid-19-vaccine-use-subject-to-hsa-approval
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Wednesday (March 24) said the HSA has asked the Chinese vaccine maker for more detailed data, so it can make an "adequate, full assessment" of its vaccine.
The HSA is unable to complete its evaluation and give its provisional approval until that additional data is submitted, said the Health Ministry's director of medical services Kenneth Mak.
They were responding during a virtual multi-ministry task force press conference to a question on why Singapore received the Sinovac vaccine before HSA had authorised it, and whether the Republic was unable to turn down the shipments because it "wanted to avoid potentially upsetting Beijing".
Singapore had received its first shipment of the Sinovac vaccine last month.
Mr Gan, who co-chairs the task force, said the delivery was made under a contract with the vaccine maker.
He noted that having the Sinovac vaccines ready in Singapore will also speed up its roll-out once approval has been given.
Singapore had made advanced purchase agreements for three vaccines - the ones developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac, even before any approvals were made.
These advance purchase agreements included a timeline on when the manufacturers would deliver the vaccines to Singapore.
By making advanced purchase agreements, the Government was making some bets on the vaccines, recognising that some may not be effective, said Education Minister Lawrence Wong.
"We wanted to do so early, so we would be early in the queue. So that was the basis we went about making these advance purchases. But after these purchases, they will start completing trials, submitting data, and then they have to be subject to HSA's approval," added Mr Wong, the task force co-chair.
HSA had also designed a pandemic-specific approval framework which allowed vaccine companies to submit their data for approval as soon as it became available instead of waiting for a complete set of data, Associate Professor Mak said.
This allowed the evaluation process to start early, he added.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...-covid-19-vaccine-use-subject-to-hsa-approval
