-
The health sciences authority
-
has approved the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine
-
for use in Singapore.
-
the first shipment is expected to arrive
-
next month
-
and will be progressively rolled out
-
to those, aged 18 and above,
-
Nisha Rahim with more:
-
[Nisha Rahim] it's been over a month
-
since Singapore received it's first
-
Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
-
shortly after, the country kick-started
-
it's vaccination programme.
-
on Wednesday, Singapore approved the use
-
of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.
-
The first shipment is expected to arrive
-
some time next month.
-
The vaccine is the second
-
to be authorised by the
-
Health Sciences authority
-
and endorsed by the expert committy
-
on Covid-19 vaccination.
-
It has a high efficacy of 94%.
-
This efficacy was based on a phase 3
-
clinical trial, conducted with over 30,000
-
participants, aged 18-95.
-
Moderna's vaccination regime
-
requires 2 doses to be administered,
-
28 days apart.
-
Unlike the Pfizer vaccine,
-
which is for individuals
-
aged 16 and above,
-
Moderna is approved for people aged 18
-
and above.
-
Those who shouldn't take the vaccine
-
include pregnant women,
-
severely immunocompromised persons,
-
and persons with history of
-
severe allergies.
-
According to 1 expert,
-
the Moderna vaccine is similar
-
to Pfizer-BioNTech, in terms of
-
profile and efficacy.
-
[Deputy Director] i don't think there's any
-
major difference between the 2
-
if you look at the clinical trial data,
-
the efficacy is about the same.
-
Both are around 95%.
-
The side effect profile is about
-
the same.
-
So the Moderna uses a slightly higher
-
dose than Pfizer:
-
100mcg compared to 30mcg
-
[Nisha Rahim] Though the storage conditions
-
are different, Pfizer vaccines will need
-
to be stored at -70°C,
-
compared to Moderna's -20°C.
-
That won't be an issue
-
as Singapore has the storage capacity
-
for both.
-
The consideration now is whether
-
there's enough ready supply.
-
[Deputy Director] The bigger consideration is
-
which vaccine is going to be available
-
to Singapore.
-
There will be a global shortage
-
in production
-
because the demand right now
-
far out-strips the supply.
-
So i think for Singapore's population,
-
the more important consideration
-
is 'do these vaccines work?'
-
the answer is 'yes'
-
'are they safe?', i think the answer is
-
'yes'
-
There is practically no real difference
-
between these vaccines,
-
so it's a question of
-
which one can Singapore get its
-
hand on?
-
[Nisha Rahim] As of Tuesday,
-
more than 175,000 individuals
-
in Singapore have received the
-
first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
-
About 6000 of them have also
-
received the 2nd dose.