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The health sciences authority

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has approved the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine

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for use in Singapore.

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the first shipment is expected to arrive

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next month

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and will be progressively rolled out

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to those, aged 18 and above,

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Nisha Rahim with more:

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[Nisha Rahim] it's been over a month

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since Singapore received it's first

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Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

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shortly after, the country kick-started

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it's vaccination programme.

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on Wednesday, Singapore approved the use

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of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.

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The first shipment is expected to arrive

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some time next month.

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The vaccine is the second

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to be authorised by the

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Health Sciences authority

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and endorsed by the expert committy

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on Covid-19 vaccination.

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It has a high efficacy of 94%.

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This efficacy was based on a phase 3

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clinical trial, conducted with over 30,000

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participants, aged 18-95.

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Moderna's vaccination regime

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requires 2 doses to be administered,

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28 days apart.

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Unlike the Pfizer vaccine,

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which is for individuals

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aged 16 and above,

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Moderna is approved for people aged 18

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and above.

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Those who shouldn't take the vaccine

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include pregnant women,

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severely immunocompromised persons,

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and persons with history of

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severe allergies.

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According to 1 expert,

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the Moderna vaccine is similar

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to Pfizer-BioNTech, in terms of

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profile and efficacy.

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[Deputy Director] i don't think there's any

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major difference between the 2

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if you look at the clinical trial data,

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the efficacy is about the same.

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Both are around 95%.

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The side effect profile is about

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the same.

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So the Moderna uses a slightly higher

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dose than Pfizer:

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100mcg compared to 30mcg

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[Nisha Rahim] Though the storage conditions

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are different, Pfizer vaccines will need

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to be stored at -70°C,

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compared to Moderna's -20°C.

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That won't be an issue

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as Singapore has the storage capacity

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for both.

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The consideration now is whether

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there's enough ready supply.

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[Deputy Director] The bigger consideration is

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which vaccine is going to be available

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to Singapore.

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There will be a global shortage

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in production

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because the demand right now

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far out-strips the supply.

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So i think for Singapore's population,

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the more important consideration

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is 'do these vaccines work?'

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the answer is 'yes'

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'are they safe?', i think the answer is

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'yes'

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There is practically no real difference

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between these vaccines,

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so it's a question of

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which one can Singapore get its

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hand on?

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[Nisha Rahim] As of Tuesday,

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more than 175,000 individuals

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in Singapore have received the

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first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

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About 6000 of them have also

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received the 2nd dose.