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.