MPs file questions on vaccine roll-out, KTPH inaccurate tests

The co-chairs of the multi-ministry task force will deliver ministerial statements in Parliament on Monday on the Government's response to Covid-19.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and Education Minister Lawrence Wong will address questions by MPs on various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Eight MPs have asked about the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, according to the agenda set in the Order Paper issued by the Clerk of Parliament yesterday.

Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast GRC) asked for details of the roll-out plans, while Workers' Party (WP) MP He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) wanted to know about measures to assuage concerns on the ground about the safety of the vaccine.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Mountbatten) asked about Singapore's national contact tracing programme TraceTogether.

Last Monday, Singapore moved into its third phase of reopening. It began its Covid-19 vaccination exercise two days later.

MPs also sought updates on other issues.

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson) and WP MP Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC) asked about plans to live-stream parliamentary proceedings to the public.

In September, Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran said the Government agreed in principle to live-stream these proceedings, and that his ministry would study the technical and implementation details.

Five MPs filed questions on the issue of about 90 breast cancer patients who may have received unnecessary treatment since 2012 due to inaccurate test results by Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH).

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC), an oncologist, asked what is being done to help these patients and what measures are being taken to ensure the fidelity of laboratory tests. Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa wants to know what are the reasons for the wrong test results.

The Ministry of Health has said it takes a serious view of the incident and has requested that the hospital review other laboratory protocols, beyond those for the affected tests, as a safety precaution.

According to KTPH, side effects from the drug given to the affected patients may include diarrhoea, chills and fever. In 3 per cent to 4 per cent of cases, patients may also experience heart problems.

Four Bills will be debated, including the Payment Services (Amendment) Bill, which involves strengthening measures that regulate virtual payment services providers to counter money laundering and terrorist financing.

Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) filed an adjournment motion on providing more help for those undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, he said: "I know that going through IVF is an exhausting, emotional and physically demanding journey. It is not easy, and we can and should do more to help those who are trying so hard to have kids."