Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine will cease to be offered after September: MOH

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s national vaccination programme will stop offering the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine after September.
This is because the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has not received any application for the Sinovac vaccine to be fully registered, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement on Friday (Aug 30).
As COVID-19 is now managed as an endemic disease, the HSA requires all COVID-19 vaccines to be fully registered, “as opposed to being used under emergency authorisation during the pandemic”.
“Eligible individuals who wish to receive the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine are advised to do so by Sep 30, 2024,” the Health Ministry said.
MOH had announced in October last year that should there be no application for the Sinovac vaccine to be fully registered, it would no longer be available under the national vaccination programme.
Sinovac has stopped producing the vaccine, the Health Ministry said. 
“As production has stopped, the supply of the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine is currently not commercially available in Singapore, and private clinics are also unable to provide it under the Special Access Route,” MOH said.
The other vaccines available in Singapore – Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty, Moderna/Spikevax and Novavax/Nuvaxovid – have been fully registered with HSA and will continue to be provided under the national vaccination programme.
To get the vaccine, individuals may book an appointment at a participating general practitioner clinic, or at a polyclinic through the HealthHub booking system. Alternatively, they can walk into any of the five Joint Testing and Vaccination Centres across Singapore. 
“COVID-19 waves will continue to occur from time to time and can cause severe disease among those who are older or medically vulnerable,” MOH said.
Members of the public should keep up to date with their vaccination against COVID-19 as it can prevent severe illness, it added.
People aged 60 years and above, medically vulnerable individuals and residents of aged care facilities are recommended to receive an additional dose of vaccine around one year after the last dose, but no earlier than five months, said the Health Ministry.
Sinovac was added to the national vaccination programme in October 2021 as a three-dose regime. It was the first non-mRNA vaccine to be approved in Singapore.
The health ministry noted then that there were some who chose not to take up mRNA vaccines due to “strong personal preferences”.
In 2022, Novavax’s Nuvaxovid vaccine, another non-mRNA option, was made available in Singapore.