Regulatory Approval for Novavax Vaccine and Vaccination for Short-term Visit Pass Holders Staying with Long-term Residents in Singapore

Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Health (a) whether short-term visit pass (STVP) holders are eligible for any vaccination schemes in Singapore; (b) if yes, when was this available to such individuals and how many have been vaccinated; and (c) if not, whether the Multi-Ministry Task Force will allow STVP holders who live in close contact with long-term residents to be eligible for the vaccination schemes.

My answer will also cover Written Question No 23 from today's Order Paper as well as the Oral questions filed by Mr Yip Hon Weng1 and Mr Gerald Giam2 for future Sittings.

Mdm Deputy Speaker, the national vaccination programme has been progressing well. As of 31 July 2021, 61% of our population have completed the full vaccination regimen. We are also making steady progress with our seniors: 79% of those aged 70 and above have been vaccinated with at least one dose. More seniors are coming forward to be vaccinated; each day, about 1,000 seniors sign up for their first dose.

We have to continue encouraging our seniors to get vaccinated because they are the most vulnerable to serious illnesses. More than 96,000 or 21% of seniors aged 70 and above have not booked a vaccination appointment. This is six percentage points higher than the general population. We will continue to reach out to as many seniors as possible and encourage them to get vaccinated. Staff and volunteers from the People's Association and the Silver Generation Office have intensified their outreach efforts through house visits and engagement dialogues. They are trained and equipped with an information kit to correct misinformation about mRNA vaccines and allay the fears of seniors. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has also called on all primary care providers to persuade seniors who are their regular patients to go for their COVID-19 vaccinations.

Our mobile vaccination teams have started to provide bed-bound and less mobile seniors with vaccinations in their homes or in the heartlands. The service has started in a few towns with a higher proportion of seniors and complements the main vaccination efforts at the vaccination centres, all of which are wheelchair-accessible. Individuals who have received one dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine but are unable to receive the second dose due to allergic reactions have been invited to take the Sinovac or Coronavac vaccine. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has established a dedicated public health programme for them to be vaccinated at a clinic in public hospitals for closer monitoring, considering their previous allergic reaction. These individuals, who receive one dose of the mRNA vaccine and then complete the vaccination process with Sinovac or Coronavac, will be considered as fully vaccinated.

This group of individuals who are allergic to the mRNA vaccines may also choose to wait for the Novavax vaccine that MOH has procured and expects to be delivered by the end of the year. MOH and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) are working closely with Novavax to facilitate the regulatory submission for their protein subunit vaccine. The review timeline will depend on the availability and the submission of data by the company to HSA. While we recognise the need to facilitate timely access to the vaccine, there should be no compromise on the scientific rigour of the assessment of their quality, safety and efficacy.

As for the Sinovac vaccine, on 5 July 2021, the company submitted to HSA the critical data requested by the agency for PSAR approval. HSA is conducting a careful and thorough review of the data and aims to complete its evaluation before the end of August. The national vaccination programme will cover all who make Singapore their home or who are here for an extended period of time. We are reviewing how short-term pass holders, such as those who are more vulnerable and who have been in Singapore on an extended basis due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, may receive vaccinations. We will announce details later.

Thank you, Madam. I know quite a number of people, including some of my residents, are eagerly awaiting the approval of the Novavax vaccine which is a protein-based non-mNRA vaccine, while people who have had allergic reactions to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine are unable to take the second dose. If they get the Novavax vaccine, similar to the Sinovac vaccine, would they be able to be considered fully vaccinated?

Secondly, some seniors are genuinely concerned about the safety of vaccines, possibly because of the many private messages they might have received about people suffering adverse effects after getting the jabs. Can I ask if MOH can strive to provide more detailed information and updates in response to widely-circulated reports of adverse reactions to the vaccines so that these incidents do not get imprinted in people's minds as this may lead to further hesitancy?

Lastly, just a quick question. Will international students, including those studying in private schools in Singapore, be allowed to get vaccinated and are there plans to open up the vaccines to other non-residents once there is sufficient supply, possibly at a fee?

Mdm Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for the questions.

The first question was whether, if somebody had a first dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and had an allergic reaction and completed the process through Novavax, would they be considered fully vaccinated? So, that is taking the analogy from what I have just described as a process where you take one dose of an mRNA vaccine and a second dose of the Sinovac or Coronavax vaccine.

I think the first thing is that we should not try to second-guess or jump the gun on the professional process that needs to be undergone through our Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination (EC-19 Committee). We need the data submitted by Novavax. We need to study it and make sure that it meets the standards of quality, safety and efficacy. And, in principle, if it does meet those same standards, I see no reason why it should not be considered in the same way as the other processes that I have just described. But I think it is premature at this point to guarantee that it will be. We will get the data, will put it through the process and then we will announce the details later on.

Mr Gerald Giam brought up a very important point, which is that seniors can get concerned about private messages spreading vaccine misinformation or disinformation. Indeed, MOH continues to try to push back against this by putting out information and infographics. Everyone has a responsibility. It is not just MOH, but, as a society, we do need to make sure that we are providing everyone – our families, our friends, our workplace context – reliable information and not inadvertently spreading misinformation and disinformation. We need to give them access to where they can also educate themselves and seek more information. So, MOH will continue to call out false news, disinformation, put out timely facts and clarifications through the media, as well as our various social media platforms. We try to maintain a sort of a central repository of this at the MOH website and at gov.sg/resources.

Mr Gerald Giam then asked about the possibility of international students and other non-residents receiving the vaccination. As I have explained, we are studying how, when and the process through which people who are here for a shorter period of time can potentially get the vaccine and details will be announced later.

Thank you, Madam. I just have a point of clarification or supplementary question for the Senior Minister of State. Can I just ask what are the considerations that are given to whether STVP holders will eventually be eligible for the vaccine, given, after all, a lot of them are living very closely with our longer-term residents or even Singaporeans and PRs within the community? So, what are the reasons why they were not initially considered to be eligible for vaccinations and what are the considerations now when the Senior Minister of State has indicated that there is a review ongoing? When will we expect to hear the outcome of this review?

Mdm Deputy Speaker, I thank the Member for the questions. The process is ongoing. In general, we will apply similar principles which are around risks and whether the person is at risk in terms of COVID-19. So, age is, of course, a consideration, as well as risks to the people around them – the settings in which they live, the circumstances in which they find themselves. So, there are a variety of considerations that we take into account.