SINGAPORE: Singapore Health  Ministry has chosen 24 private healthcare institutions to be licensed providers of the Sinovac-CoronaVac under the Special Access Route, the Ministry said in a statement.

These providers will draw from Health Minsitry’ss existing stock, and can administer the vaccine to Singapore citizens, permanent residents and persons holding long-term passes who wish to take the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine, as per reports.

Ministry of Health said these vaccines are being provided for the providers at no cost, individuals should take note that the providers should not charge them for the vaccine cost. Those interested may contact the providers directly from June 18 for more details on how they may receive the vaccine, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The first batch of Sinovac vaccine purchased by Singapore arrived in February, and MOH said earlier this month that Sinovac can be administered in Singapore under the special access route after it was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

As the Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine remains unregistered and is not authorized by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for use under the Pandemic Special Access Route in Singapore, it is to be provided only under the SAR framework, and hence will not be covered under the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme (VIFAP) meant for the national vaccination program.

Geneva summit: Joe Biden, Putin admire their talks, but made little concrete progress

Fiji's Investment Act attracts foreign and domestic investment across key sectors

'Terrorism is the biggest threat to world peace,' says Rajnath Singh at ASEAN meeting