Singapore approves use of Moderna vaccine for people aged 18 and older

The Moderna vaccine has been granted interim authorisation for use in Singapore, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) announced on Wednesday (Feb 3). 

The vaccine, however, will only be available to those 18 years old or older. 

It is the second vaccine in Singapore to be granted interim authorisation under the Pandemic Special Access Route (PSAR), after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. 

The first shipment of the Moderna vaccine is expected to arrive around March, said the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Similar to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, the vaccination regime submitted by US-based Moderna requires two doses of the vaccine to be administered 28 days apart. 

The HSA said in a press release that the benefits of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the known risks and that it had demonstrated a high vaccine efficacy of 94 per cent. 

As a precautionary measure, those with a history of anaphylaxis or severe or multiple allergies to medicines or food should not receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, said HSA. 

Several groups, including pregnant women and severely immunocompromised people, should not receive the vaccine too, as the safety and efficacy data for these groups are not available yet. 

“Persons who develop anaphylaxis or severe allergic reactions to the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine also should not receive the second dose,” HSA said. 

Authorities said it will actively review the data submitted by Moderna to ensure that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the known risks.