'Cheers mate': Netizens applaud as Singapore sends 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses down under to Australia

Half a million Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses from Singapore will be making its way to Australia, and netizens from both countries are applauding this initiative.

The doses will arrive in Australia later this week and then rolled out across the nation starting next week, according to ABC News.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said Singapore has enough doses to meet its current needs and the 500,000 doses donated are from its current stock, according to media reports.

Australian Redditor 1Duggthedogg could barely contain his gratitude upon finding out about the swap deal in a Reddit thread – posted on Tuesday (Aug 31) – which has amassed over 700 upvotes.

He took a quick jibe at his nation's handling of the vaccination exercise before explaining how the additional doses could be a potential life-changer to many Australians currently in lockdown. 

Reactions from the post have been positive with plenty of Redditors from Australia expressing how thankful they are for the kind gesture. 

Singaporean Redditors got in on the act too and complimented the Aussies while wishing them well.

Even Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Facebook comments section had a netizen commenting on the friendship between the two countries.

Beneath all the pleasantries were a whole lot of banter, which was not that surprising since that's what friends do, right? Food and drinks were mentioned as possible methods of getting even.

PM Lee said in his Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon that this deal benefits both nations. He added that Australia will return the same number of doses to Singapore in December when it will have potential use as booster shots.

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"Glad to support their efforts to get Australians vaccinated as soon as possible. Countries must be united in the battle to quell the pandemic, so that we can all move into the new normal," PM Lee said.

This move from Singapore is not unexpected as the Prime Minister spoke of the nation's intention to donate vaccines to other countries.

In July, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders’ Retreat on Covid-19, PM Lee said that countries whose vaccination programmes are ahead should make their excess vaccine supplies available to others.

For now, both Singaporeans and Australians can only hope to be fully vaccinated and start visiting each other again. 

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amierul@asiaone.com