Newly received Sinovac data under ‘careful and thorough review’, HSA aims to finish analysis in 4 to 6 weeks
A health worker with a vial of Chinese Sinovac vaccine in Manila, the Philippines, on June 14, 2021.
SINGAPORE — Beijing-based biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac has submitted more data about its Covid-19 vaccine to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) here.
In a media statement sent on Thursday (July 15) after The Straits Times reported on this, HSA said: “On 5 July, Sinovac submitted to HSA the required minimum critical data for us to make a fuller evaluation.”
The company from China submitted the Pandemic Special Access Route application for its vaccine to HSA in December last year. In March this year, after examining the data submitted, HSA asked for more data to continue its evaluation.
Now, the authority is conducting a “careful and thorough review” of the newly submitted data and aims to complete its evaluation in four to six weeks, it said.
It will provide an update once a regulatory decision is made.
In Singapore, a total of 31 clinics have been selected to offer the Sinovac vaccine under a special access route to citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders who opt for it.
The vaccine is not yet recognised as an approved vaccine under the voluntary national vaccination exercise.
There were at first 24 clinics chosen to administer the Sinovac vaccine since June 18 until it was announced on July 2 that seven more clinics will help in clearing the appointment lists though they will not be able to take new appointments from the public.
For people who had been rejected from taking the approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines under the national vaccination exercise, or those who are allergic to these vaccines, the Government will reimburse them the fees if they decide to take the Sinovac vaccine.
The Ministry of Health said before that there is not enough international data so far on the effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine against the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
As such, pre-event testing for larger gatherings or certain activities here such as weddings and religious services will continue to be needed for people who have taken the Sinovac vaccine.
As of July 3, 17,296 people here had taken one dose of the two-dose Sinovac vaccine.
