Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

Singapore will contribute more than 100,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to the state of Johor, according to the state's Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad.

This is the first time Singapore is contributing its Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to Johor.

Hasni was responding to questions on vaccine supply during its state legislative assembly on Monday (Sep. 6), The Star reported.

“In the short term, the Singapore Government will contribute 100,640 doses of Pfizer vaccine to the Johor state government,” he said.

He said that Singapore had earlier donated 20,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines to Johor on Jul. 29.

Close ties between Singapore and Johor

The Chief Minister described the contribution of Sinovac vaccines as a "sign of close ties" between the state of Johor and Singapore.

Back in May, Hasni said in an interview with CNA that the state government is keen to increase its vaccine supply through multiple ways, including purchasing from Singapore.

In June, Hasni said Johor was seeking 500,000 vaccine doses from Singapore and China. He said he was willing to purchase Covid-19 vaccines if Singapore had some to spare.

However Hasni did not appear to confirm on Sep. 6 whether the current procurement of vaccines were purchased or donated by Singapore.

More sources of vaccines

In his response, Hasni also said that the Johor state government accepted the donation of 300,000 doses of SinoPharm vaccines by the United Arab Emirates.

On Jul. 6, Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar took to Facebook and announced that Johor received 20,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines, but it was unclear where the state received the vaccines. 

He added that Johor was trying to get more Sinovac or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in the near future.

Thus far, Johor has received 4.7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (JKJAV) between Mar. 1 and Sep. 5, The Star added.

Of this, 2.4 million doses were Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, 1.8 million were Sinovac, and 410,750 were AstraZeneca vaccines.

The Star reported that Hasni thanked former foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein for obtaining and facilitating the process of receiving the vaccines for Johor.

Vaccinations a key component of Johor's exit strategy

During the state assembly, the Chief Minister also reiterated that vaccines are a  "key component" of Johor's exit strategy from the pandemic, CNA reported.

According to Hasni, the Johor's state government aims to ensure that 100 per cent of its adult population would receive at least one dose of the vaccine by Sep. 16, and complete the full regimen by the third week of October.

As of Aug. 30, JKJAV statistics showed that 56 per cent of Johor's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Follow and listen to our podcast here

Top image via Hasni Mohammad/Facebook