SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore on Tuesday received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Sinovac Biotech in China, its health ministry said, although the shot is still awaiting approval for use in the city-state.
Sinovac has begun submitting initial data, but the Health Sciences Authority is currently awaiting all necessary information to conduct a thorough assessment, the ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.
Singapore is the only affluent country considering the use of the Sinovac vaccine, of which there is an efficacy rate of around 50% to 90% in studies.
The city-state has been implementing its COVID-19 vaccination program for the past two months. This approved photos from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
The government had earlier refused to give specific details about the deals concluded with vaccine makers.
As an island nation that is heavily dependent on travel and trade, the government in Singapore wants to boost its economy with the help of the vaccine. Singapore aims to vaccinate its entire population of nearly six million people by 2021.
In recent months, Singapore has reported very few new local coronavirus cases.
Since the onset of the outbreak, it has recorded a total of nearly 60,000 infections, most of which occur in busy foreign workplaces. Only 29 people have died from the disease in Singapore, according to the Ministry of Health.
China, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand are among the countries that have approved the Sinovac vaccine.
Reporting by Chen Lin; Editing by Ed Davies