First shipment of Moderna vaccine arrives in Singapore
Vaccine has an efficacy of 94 per cent and requires two doses administered 28 days apart
The first shipment of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine, the second to be approved for use in Singapore, arrived here yesterday.
The vaccines were carried on board Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ7137, a scheduled freighter service from Brussels, Belgium, and arrived here at about 1.40pm.
The vaccines were prioritised for loading in Brussels and unloading here, SIA said.
They were then transported to Sats' cold-chain facility, Coolport, for subsequent storage and ground transportation.
SIA senior vice-president for cargo Chin Yau Seng said: "We are glad to do our part in transporting Covid-19 vaccines in a secure, reliable and timely manner to support national vaccination programmes."
In a Facebook post yesterday, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung and Education Minister Lawrence Wong welcomed the new batch of vaccines.
Mr Ong said its arrival has put to good use Singapore's capabilities to handle temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals and the connectivity with cities around the world.
"This also means we are ready to ramp up vaccination for Singaporeans," he said.
Mr Wong, who is also the co-chair of the multi-ministry task force on Covid-19, said more vaccines will arrive over the coming months.
He added: "We will continue to monitor our supplies closely, to meet our target of vaccinating all Singaporeans and long-term residents by the end of this year."
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) granted interim authorisation on Feb 3 for Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine for use here for those aged 18 years and above.
It is the second Covid-19 vaccine to be authorised for use by the HSA after the Pfizer-BioNTech offering.
HSA said on Feb 3 that its review of available clinical data found that the Moderna vaccine demonstrated a high efficacy of 94 per cent, with the benefits outweighing the risks.
The Moderna vaccine requires two doses administered 28 days apart, while the Pfizer vaccine's two doses are taken 21 days apart.
In Parliament on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said that a total of 55,000 people here have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, with 250,000 people being vaccinated in total.
Singapore's vaccination programme will enter its next phase on Feb 22, when seniors across the island start getting their jabs, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last Friday.
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