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In a press conference on Saturday (Oct. 23), the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) announced that the Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine will be included in Singapore's national vaccination programme.

Previously, individuals in Singapore could take Sinovac's Covid-19 vaccine under the Special Access Route (SAR), but it was not part of the national vaccination programme.

Guidance for Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine

On Saturday, the MTF announced that, following the Health Sciences Authority's interim authorisation of the vaccine under the Pandemic Special Access Route (PSAR), the Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine will be included in the national vaccination programme.

According to a Ministry of Health (MOH) press release, the recommendation of the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination, the following guidance will apply, given the relatively lower vaccine efficacy of Sinovac-CoronaVac, compared with mRNA Covid-19 vaccines:

• People who can take the mRNA vaccines should continue to take two doses of the mRNA vaccines to complete their primary series regime.
• People who received only one or two doses of the Sinovac-CoronaVac to-date are strongly encouraged to complete a three-dose primary series regime with the mRNA vaccines, as it offers more optimal protection.

This means that people who have taken one dose of Sinovac-CoronaVac to-date should complete their primary series vaccination with two more doses of an mRNA vaccine, while those who had taken two doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac to-date should compete their primary series vaccination with one more dose of an mRNA vaccine.

• People who are unable to take any dose of the mRNA vaccines due to medical reasons should receive three doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac in total, in order to complete their primary series regime.
• People who started vaccination with mRNA vaccines but developed allergies or severe adverse reactions after the first dose of mRNA vaccine should complete a three-dose primary series regime with two more doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac.

If the allergic reaction happens after the second dose of mRNA vaccine, then the person should take one more dose of Sinovac-CoronaVac as their booster vaccination when they are eligible for a booster.

Three-dose primary series regime

MOH added that while Singapore's vaccination rates are high, at more than 90 per cent in eligible age groups, there are still some who choose not to take up mRNA vaccines due to "strong personal preferences".

Thus, in order to ensure that everyone will have reasonably good protection against Covid-19, MOH will offer the three-dose primary series regime of Sinovac-CoronaVac under the national vaccination programme to those who have not completed their full course of vaccination.

This includes people who had only received one or two doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac previously, and will help improve protection for persons vaccinated with Sinovac-CoronaVac.

However, Sinovac-CoronaVac will not be offered as a booster for people who had already completed two doses of mRNA vaccine and did not develop allergies or severe adverse reactions.

Instead, a third dose of mRNA vaccine will be offered to this group, under the national vaccination programme.

Not approved for general use for general use for children aged 12 to 17

Sinovac-CoronaVac has not been approved for general use for individuals aged 12 to 17 years. This is not in the application from Sinovac and is also consistent with WHO’s approved use under the Emergency Use Listing, MOH explained.

However, for children in this age range who are medically ineligible to complete a full two-dose regime of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty mRNA vaccines, MOH will offer a three-dose primary series using Sinovac-CoronaVac under a dedicated public health programme.

They will be closely monitored by trained medical personnel under this public health programme, given that the use of Sinovac-CoronaVac in people under the age of 18 was not included in HSA’s PSAR interim authorisation.

MOH will get in touch with eligible people in this age group.

Fully-vaccinated after four months or Dec. 31

Starting from Oct. 20, the ministry has invited people aged of 18 and above who are medically ineligible to complete a two-dose regime of mRNA vaccines due to allergies or severe adverse reactions after their first dose to receive their Sinovac-CoronaVac doses, in order to complete their three-dose primary series regime.

A personalised booking link will be sent via SMS to the mobile number that they had registered with earlier, of their first dose of the mRNA vaccine.

They will be invited to book a new appointment on www.vaccine.gov.sg.

The Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccines provided under the national vaccination programme will be administered at the Raffles City Convention Centre, 11 selected Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPCs), and a list of private clinics that have been approved under Special Access Route to provide Sinovac-CoronaVac.

More details on these clinics will be shared on MOH’s website from Sunday (Oct. 24).

MOH is making some adjustments to the vaccination status of those who have taken two doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac, especially considering the 90-day interval between the second and third doses.

All individuals who have taken two doses of Sinovac-Coronavac will be considered fully vaccinated for four months after the second dose or Dec. 31, whichever is later.

This will allow individuals enough time to get their third doses and maintain their vaccination status.

The same rule will apply to those who have received two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.

For travellers who may have taken only two doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac in their home country, MOH will consider people with two doses to be vaccinated, but only for a limited period of 30 days.

Top image via Getty Images

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