Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine licensed for use in Singapore
Singapore has become the first country in Asia to approve Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine as it begins rolling out its immunisation programme to the wider population.
Singapore (VNA) - Singapore has become the first country in Asia to approveModerna’s COVID-19 vaccine as it begins rolling out its immunisation programmeto the wider population.
In a statement on February 3, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said its review of theavailable clinical data found that the vaccine demonstrated a high efficacy of94 percent, with the benefits outweighing the risks.
This means that there is a 94 percent reduction of symptomaticCOVID-19 disease in a vaccinated group of people, compared with asimilarly sized group of unvaccinated people, it said.
The figure is based on a Phase 3clinical trial in the US which involved over 30,000 people aged 18to 95.
Singapore expectsto receive the first shipment of the Moderna shots around March. The Modernavaccine is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be authorised for use by the HSA,after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved in December2020.
More than 175,000 people havereceived their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, including health workers andairline staff, while vaccination centres have been set up in recent weeks tostart inoculating the elderly, authorities have said.
Singapore expects to havevaccinated its entire population by the third quarter, although last month thegovernment said it was expecting shipment delays of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccinesdue to upgrades in Pfizer’s manufacturing plant./.
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Illustrative photo (Source: Reuters) 
