Coronavirus Singapore
Some private clinics begin administering Sinovac vaccine
But not all 24 approved clinics have received doses and had to turn away walk-in requests
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People inquiring about the Sinovac vaccine at Little Cross Family Clinic in Tampines Street 91 yesterday. The clinic had to tell people waiting outside to leave their details as it had yet to receive the doses.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Yeo Shu Hui, Anjali Raguraman, Lim Yaohui
The first of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccinations were administered at some private clinics yesterday afternoon, following the authorities' approval of 24 private healthcare clinics to draw on the Government's stock of the vaccine.
As not all the clinics had received their vials yet, many had to turn away walk-in requests from the public or place them on wait lists.
Chinatown Wellness Clinic at Hong Lim Complex administered around 10 of the 200 vaccine doses it received early yesterday - mostly to pioneer generation citizens and those who cannot take the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for medical reasons.
A spokesman for Rophi Clinic, which administered 20 jabs yesterday, said thousands have registered their interest but all slots have been booked.
The clinic at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre is encouraging online bookings, and said vaccination will be conducted on non-clinic days to segregate those receiving vaccines from regular patients.
HeartlandHealth has four branches which received approval to administer the Sinovac vaccine, with each receiving 200 doses.
It started putting the vaccine into arms at its Bedok South clinic yesterday.
A spokesman for Icon Cancer Centre, which also received 200 doses, said it had received "close to 1,000 expressions of interest".
Priority will be given to patients who cannot take the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for medical reasons.
Dr Ho Kok On, Pinnacle Family Clinic's resident physician at its Pasir Ris branch, said the clinic will start vaccinating with Sinovac only on Monday as it needs time to set up an observation area for those who receive the shots.
The clinic said that at least 480 patients had left their contact details since yesterday morning.
Little Cross Family Clinic in Tampines Street 91 had to tell people waiting outside to leave their details as it had yet to receive the vaccine doses.
Part-time administrator Phuah C.K. was among those making inquiries.
"I fear the side effects of other vaccines," said the 72-year-old, who has a medical history of hypertension, high cholesterol, liver cirrhosis and other problems.
"So far, I haven't seen many reports about the side effects of the Sinovac vaccine."
Ms Sherry Cheong, 44, was there with her 72-year-old father Cheong Poo Fon, who has a severe allergy to aspirin.
She decided to visit the clinic as the phone lines were engaged all of Thursday.
"My dad is still working as a hawker and it is pretty dangerous for him to be exposed," said Ms Cheong.
The charge for Sinovac's vaccine by the 24 approved providers ranges from $10 to $25.
MOH said earlier that as the doses are being provided to the institutions for free, they should not charge people anything other than a vaccination administration fee, inclusive of consultation and a 7 per cent goods and services tax.
Among those who were vaccinated yesterday were Mr James Ng, 31, and his parents Andy Ng and Joyce Yap, both 61.
They got their jabs at HeartlandHealth's Bedok South clinic.
Mr Ng, who is unemployed, had signed up online on Thursday evening and received confirmation for the slots after midnight.
"I trust China products and technology over the mRNA technology in the other vaccines," he said.
• Additional reporting by Yuen Sin
