As Sinopharm vaccine said to be more effective than Sinovac, providers see high demand

Singapore — The Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, said to have a higher efficacy rate than Sinovac, had its first day of use in Singapore on Monday (Aug 30) for a trial run. 

According to reports, the demand for Sinopharm has been high.

It was announced last month that eleven private healthcare providers had been given approval by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) via the special access route to bring in Sinopharm, the fourth vaccine to be administered in the country.

Like Sinovac, Sinopharm is produced in China. On May 7, it was granted emergency use listing by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Sinopharm is made using an inactivated virus containing Sars-CoV-2 spike proteins that teach the body’s immune system to create antibodies against the virus. This is the same technology used in manufacturing the Sinovac vaccine.

However, the reported efficacy rate of Sinopharm is 79 per cent, compared to Sinovac’s 51 per cent.

When Singapore began rolling out its vaccine programme late last year, only mRNA vaccines from Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna had been approved for use in the country by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA). 

But for people with severe allergic reactions including anaphylaxis, or for those who are immunocompromised, mRNA vaccines are not advisable.

And now in Singapore, Sinopharm is in high demand. 

For example, by Aug 27, over 6,000 people showing interest in having the vaccine administered to them, according to the chief operating officer of private healthcare provider IHH Healthcare Singapore, Dr Noel Yeo.

IHH will begin officially administering Sinopharm jabs on Wednesday (Sept 1).

“Over the weekend, more people were calling up, and now it could be easily approaching 10,000 people… we are oversubscribed. That’s how popular it is,” he is quoted as saying in The Straits Times (ST).

IHH originally procured 10,000 syringes of Sinopharm, which arrived on Aug 27, which means 5,000 people may receive the two Sinopharm jabs to be fully vaccinated. 

Dr Yeo told ST that if interest in the vaccine remains high, IHH plans of ordering more, with the approval of HSA.

The vaccine costs $99 at IHH, or $49.50 per dose. In contrast, Pfizer and Moderna administered by the government, are free. /TISG

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