Singapore will order enough H1N1 vaccines if WHO gives go-ahead
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 May 2009 1850 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Singapore will order enough H1N1 vaccines for the entire population if the World Health Organisation (WHO) gives the go-ahead for the production at a meeting in Geneva soon.

At the same time, the Health Ministry is studying a more targeted approach to temperature screening at checkpoints.

Speaking at an event on Saturday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan thought Singapore will be the first country in Southeast Asia to report a case of H1N1 infection. Instead, it turned out to be Thailand and then Malaysia.

He feels it is a matter of time before a case surfaces in Singapore and that border screening measures may not be a sufficient preventive measure especially at land checkpoints.

Mr Khaw said: "Land checkpoint - the environment is quite different. The motorbikes and so forth, it is already warm, sweaty and we know that the precision of it is sometimes doubtful. So we are reviewing land checkpoints, whether it is really necessary to keep up this temperature control."

However, there will be a more focused approach to screening in airports. Instead of checks at the immigration point, thermal scanners will be put up at the aero-bridges for incoming flights from affected countries.

And even if the virus enters the country, there should not be any cause for alarm yet as fatality rates are low. So far, most that have succumbed to the virus already have underlying medical conditions.

In the US, less than five per cent of those who caught the virus needed hospitalisation.

In Mexico, the fatality rate is 0.4 per cent of those infected. Hence, Singapore is lifting the home quarantine order for those with a travel history to Mexico.

Mr Khaw added: "It is the future which is worrisome, the virus has now spread to the South. So when the next winter in the north, which is in a year's time, the virus will keep on mutating and picking up new genes as it goes along.

"Will it become milder and milder, which is all we hope? Or will it become more serious, which is what we fear? I think the control measure now should be preventive."

Many health officials believe the best control measure would be vaccination.

WHO has yet to make a decision on producing these vaccines. Scientists will meet in Geneva next week to discuss this and it is going to be a heated debate.

The factories that are going to produce the H1N1 vaccine also produce the seasonal flu vaccine.

Seasonal flu kills about a quarter to half a million people worldwide each year. So should vaccination for seasonal flu be reduced, as factories crank up production for a virus that is still quite mild? It's a tough call politicians and health experts will have to make.

GlaxoSmithKline has received tentative orders for over 120 million doses of vaccines from Europe.

The firm said it will finish producing its seasonal flu vaccine in July and could then turn to H1N1 vaccine. The firm has received tentative orders for 60 million doses from Britain, 50 million from France, 12.3 million from Belgium and 5.3 million from Finland.

Glaxo also said it would donate 50 million doses to the World Health Organization for developing countries.

Singapore has a production contract with a vaccine manufacturer in Australia and will procure enough vaccines for the entire population, if recommended by WHO.

Speaking at a separate event on Saturday, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said besides staying vigilant against the H1N1 virus, the Aloha chalets in Loyang will remain operationally ready.

Mr Mah said: "We will still need to have a quarantine facility for the time being... in case there's a need for us to reactivate under certain circumstances or while the HQO is being suspended for the time being. I think all of us are aware that we are not totally out of the woods yet." - CNA/vm