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In a press conference on Nov. 10, the multi-ministry taskforce (MTF) talked about ensuring access to vaccines when they are available.

Singapore has been actively monitoring the global progress in Covid-19 vaccine development and has taken steps to secure access for the population amidst expected strong global demand.

Singapore is a strong supporter and active participant in driving the work of the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility.

Co-led by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO), this global collaboration enables countries to pool risk and resources to gain accelerated access to a portfolio of vaccines from different vaccine developers.

To date, there are 186 participants in the COVAX Facility which represent over 85 per cent of the world’s population.

Expert committee for vaccination

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has also set up an Expert Committee on Covid-19 vaccination, comprising experts in infectious diseases, immunology, and other relevant fields.

Their roles include:

• To closely monitor the vaccine clinical trials data as they become available globally.
• To advise on the suitability, safety and efficacy of the vaccines.
• To recommend the vaccination approach for the different segments of the population.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said:

"Ultimately, the safety of Singaporeans is our top priority. Only vaccines that are assessed to be relatively safe and efficacious will be approved for use in Singapore and offered to the relevant population segments when they become available."

No intention to vaccinate entire population

However, he also said that even with the availability of vaccines, they do not intend to vaccinate the entire population, depending on the nature of the vaccine and urged Singaporeans to focus on safe distancing and safe management measures in the meantime.

"I should remind ourselves that even with the availability of vaccines, we do not intend to vaccinate our entire population, depending on the nature of the vaccine. And even if we were to vaccinate the entire population, it will take time to do so.

In the meantime, it is important to continue to ensure that our safe distancing measures or precautionary measures are in place, and we continue to observe personal hygiene and so on."

Closely track progress of vaccine candidates

Additionally, Gan stressed that there is still insufficient data on the sustainability of the vaccines.

He said: "It's also important to bear in mind that we still do not have sufficient data as to the sustainability of the immunity that these vaccines may confer. We still need to establish the fact to allow us to have confidence that they are going to provide us [with] lasting immunity."

The MTF also said that they will continue to track closely the progress of the different vaccine candidates under development globally in the next few months and will provide further updates on its plans.

Top image from Gan Kim Yong's Facebook page and PMLive.com.

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