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From Oct. 17, 2022, doses of the Moderna/Spikevax bivalent vaccine will be offered to those aged 50 and above in Singapore.

It will also be offered to those who have yet to achieve "minimum protection", a new vaccination status introduced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Oct. 7.

What is the bivalent vaccine?

A bivalent vaccine is a Covid-19 vaccine booster that targets both the original strain of Covid-19 and the Omicron variant, offering broad protection against Covid-19 and better protection against the Omicron variant.

MOH said on Oct. 7 that it will replace the original Moderna/Spikevax vaccines with the updated bivalent version from Oct. 17 for all vaccinations using the Moderna/Spikevax vaccine. This will be for people aged 18 and above.

The Pfizer/Comirnaty bivalent vaccine is undergoing evaluation and is expected to be available by end-2022.

What is considered "minimum protection"?

According to MOH, to achieve minimum protection, persons aged five years and above should complete three mRNA or Novavax/Nuvaxovid doses, or four Sinovac-CoronaVac doses.

Bivalent vaccine doses from Oct. 17

Starting Oct. 17, those aged 50 and above can walk into any joint testing and vaccination centre in Singapore to receive their bivalent vaccine dose, health minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post on Sunday (Oct. 9).

Those who have yet to achieve minimum protection against Covid-19 can also do the same from the same date.

These two groups of people are targeted first as they are "at higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19 infection", MOH said.

To locate the nearest joint testing and vaccination centre, eligible individuals can refer to this site.

While the site lists the nearest private clinics administering Covid-19 vaccines, Ong highlighted that the bivalent vaccine will only be available at joint testing and vaccination centres for now.

Bivalent vaccine has "same safety profile" as original vaccine

Responding to other frequently asked questions in his Facebook post, Ong said that the bivalent vaccine "has the same safety profile" as the original Moderna/Spikevax mRNA vaccine, based on clinical studies.

Six in 100,000 of people who took the original formulation reported serious adverse events (SAE), all of whom have recovered or are recovering.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has also reported a declining rate of SAEs with further shots, Ong explained. This means that even fewer people have had adverse reactions after taking their boosters as compared to when they took the primary doses.

MOH has stopped counting boosters

Ong also said that individuals can skip their second vaccine booster shot and receive the bivalent vaccine instead.

"We have basically stopped counting boosters. You can just go receive the bivalent vaccine," he added.

MOH's Oct. 7 press release stated:

"Instead of counting the number of shots and boosters we receive, we will transit to a new definition of up-to-date vaccination.

This is similar to Influenza vaccination, where individuals are advised to take them periodically, so as to protect ourselves against new strains of the endemic Influenza virus as they arise."

Covid-19 infection considered a shot

In his Facebook post, Ong had also clarified that a Covid-19 infection is considered a shot "for the purposes of achieving minimum protection".

"So if you have an infection, followed by two mRNA shots, you have minimum protection," he explained.

However, beyond minimum protection, a Covid-19 infection is not considered as a substitute for a shot to keep up-to-date with the vaccination recommendation.

Vaccination safe for children aged six months to five years

MOH has also recently announced that children aged six months to four years old will soon be able to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Ong said in his Facebook post that vaccination for children aged six months to five years with the Moderna/Spikevax vaccine is safe.

Common side effects, such as injection site pain, fatigue and headache, were observed less commonly than in adults and subside within two to three days, Ong added.

SAEs are rare, with no cases of anaphylaxis or pericarditis/myocarditis observed in the clinical trial.

To date, over a million doses have been administered in the U.S., with no safety concerns reported.

You can view Ong's Facebook post here:

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Top image by Mufid Majnun via Unsplash.