The first shipment of China's Sinovac vaccine arrived in Singapore on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

But it is not yet allowed to be used here by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), the Ministry of Health said on Feb. 24.

MOH said: "Sinovac has started submitting initial data, and HSA is currently awaiting Sinovac's submission of all the necessary information in order to carry out a thorough scientific assessment of the manufacturing process, safety and efficacy of the vaccine under the Pandemic Special Access Route."

Sinovac is the third vaccine to arrive in Singapore.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have received interim authorisation and are used in Singapore under this route.

The Sinovac vaccine is an inactivated vaccine, which makes use of killed virus particles, similar to vaccinating against polio.

Unlike the Sinovac vaccine, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines involve injecting snippets of the virus' genetic material into the body to stimulate an immune response.

The Chinese embassy said on Facebook that the delivery of the vaccine cements the agreement made by the two countries to cooperate on issues related to the pandemic.