US biotech firm Moderna wants to bring Covid-19 vaccine to S'pore as early as Dec. 2020

Fast.

Belmont Lay | December 02, 2020, 03:32 AM

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American biotech company Moderna wants to bring its Covid-19 vaccine it is mass producing now to Singapore and the first batch could arrive as early as December 2020.

The firm has sought out the Singapore authorities to approve the vaccine's use here.

In talks with HSA

The Straits Times reported on Dec. 1 that Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel saying the company is in talks with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in Singapore.

The CEO declined to reveal the number of doses to be made available here, citing confidentiality of the matter, but Moderna is ready to ship the vaccine out any time.

Moderna and Pfizer in the lead

Moderna's vaccine will be the second vaccine likely to receive U.S. emergency use authorisation this year.

The first was the vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, which tested 95 per cent effective.

Moderna's vaccine tested 94.1 per cent effective.

Pfizer's emergency use authorisation came about a week ahead of Moderna's.

Protection from severe forms of Covid-19

Both vaccines protect most people against severe forms of Covid-19.

However, whether the vaccines will stop the spread of Sars-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes Covid-19 -- is still unclear.

One person, two doses of vaccine

Bancel has said the company was on track to produce 20 million doses of vaccine by the end of December.

In 2021, there can be 500 million to a billion doses.

Each person is required to be administered two doses of the vaccine in a month.

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