China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine could soon be made available in Singapore

SINGAPORE - The Sinopharm vaccine could soon be made available in Singapore, with several private healthcare groups already taking steps to secure doses of the jab.

This will likely see it becoming the fourth vaccine available in the country, as it ramps up nationwide vaccination rates in order to ease restrictions on social gatherings and restart the economy.

IHH Healthcare Singapore told The Straits Times that the Health Sciences Authority has given approval for it to import the Sinopharm vaccine via the special access route (SAR).

"This will give people in Singapore access to another alternative vaccine option," said Dr Noel Yeo, the group's chief operating officer.

"Details are still being worked out at the moment. We will make a formal announcement when more information becomes available."

Raffles Medical Group has also put up a Facebook post asking people to register their interest for the Chinese vaccine, which uses an inactivated virus to elicit protection against Covid-19.

The Straits Times has also approached the group for comment.

The SAR framework allows private healthcare groups to bring in Covid-19 vaccines that have been put on the World Health Organisation's emergency-use listing.

These include China's Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, as well as those made by Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca.

The authorities have also signed advance purchase agreements with American biotechnology company Novavax to secure its protein-based Covid-19 vaccine, with supplies possibly arriving before the end of the year. If approved, it will be part of the national vaccine programme.

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Unlike vaccines administered under the pandemic special access route - such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna jabs given to the majority of people here - SAR vaccines are not subsidised by the Government.

They are also not covered under the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme, which supports people who suffer adverse effects from their Covid-19 jabs.

Singapore has vaccinated 4.3 million people under the national vaccination programme to date. Roughly three-quarters have completed the full vaccination regimen. As of Monday, it had also administered 89,047 doses of the Sinovac vaccine.

The Sinopharm vaccine is administered in two doses given three to four weeks apart. It is approved for use in those aged 18 and above.

According to the World Health Organisation, a large, multi-country phase three trial showed that the vaccine is 79 per cent effective against symptomatic disease, two weeks after the second dose. It was also reported to be 79 per cent effective against hospitalisation.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.