Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat received his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) yesterday.

"The vaccine is safe and effective, even for former stroke patients like myself," Mr Heng said in a Facebook post in the evening.

He had collapsed during a Cabinet meeting in May 2016, after suffering a sudden stroke caused by a ruptured aneurysm. He returned to work in August that year.

Prior to getting his jab, Mr Heng sat down with Dr Shawn Vasoo, clinical director of NCID and head of the Infectious Disease Research Laboratory, to run through a medical questionnaire.

Mr Heng also shared how, thanks to the steady and skilful hands of nurse manager Imrana Banu, his vaccination was "painless and done in less than 10 seconds". He also received his vaccination card, and said he would be back in three weeks to get his second dose.

He also met a group of NCID researchers while at the centre.

Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for pandemic use by Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

Data for another vaccine by Moderna has been submitted and is currently being reviewed by HSA.

Mr Heng said: "We are progressively rolling out our national vaccination strategy in the coming weeks and months. I strongly encourage you to take it up when it becomes available to you. This will protect not only you, but also your loved ones and our community."