Data on Severity of Illness Experienced by COVID-19 Vaccinated Patients and Evaluation of Effectiveness of Different Vaccines for Booster Jabs

NOTICE PAPER NO. 779, 780, 798, 799, 801, 805
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 1 NOVEMBER 2021

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Yip Hon Weng
MP for Yio Chu Kang

Question No. 1215

To ask the Minister for Health amongst the vaccinated patients in Singapore who (i) required ICU stay or (ii) died respectively, how many got a mRNA vaccine and how many had a non-mRNA vaccine.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Cheng Hsing Yao
Nominated MP

Question No. 1216

To ask the Minister for Health (a) of the vaccinated COVID-19 patients who have developed serious symptoms, how are they distributed across the different vaccines; and (b) whether there is data that suggests which vaccines are more effective in preventing the development of serious COVID-19 symptoms.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong
MP for Hougang

Question No. 1255

To ask the Minister for Health whether the Government will allow people to choose a different vaccine, including a non-mRNA one, for their COVID-19 booster shots.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song
MP for Aljunied GRC

Question No. 1279

To ask the Minister for Health regarding all the COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in Singapore, including those available under the Special Access Route, what is the effectiveness, based on real-world data in Singapore or elsewhere, against the Delta variant for each of these vaccines against (i) infection (ii) symptomatic infection (iii) severe infection requiring oxygen supplementation and/or ICU care (iv) death and (v) transmission.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Leon Perera
MP for Aljunied GRC

Question No. 1282

To ask the Minister for Health (a) of the deaths of fully vaccinated persons from COVID-19, what is the breakdown by vaccine type; and (b) what is the number of breakthrough COVID-19 deaths per 10,000 fully vaccinated persons for each vaccine type.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim
MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC

Question No. 1290

To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry or the Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination (EC19V) has studied the research on the effects of using different vaccines for the initial and booster doses and the efficacy of taking different booster vaccines.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim
MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC

Question No. 1318

To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry has been collecting data on all serious side effects from each type of COVID-19 vaccine to have a better understanding on the best or possible treatments when such side effects are experienced.

Written Answer

Members are interested to know how different COVID-19 vaccines compare in terms of their protection. As we roll out our vaccination and booster programmes, MOH and HSA have continued to collate and analyse data on the effectiveness and safety for different vaccines. The following are what we have found out so far.

First, there is a big difference between being vaccinated and not vaccinated. Between 1 May 2021 to 30 September 2021, the COVID-19 mortality rate was 7.5 per million persons among those vaccinated with the two mRNA vaccines. In contrast, the mortality rate among those who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated was 92 per million persons. In the same period, the risk of severe disease, including the need for intensive care and/or oxygen supplementation, was 86 per million persons for those vaccinated with the two mRNA vaccines, and around 530 per million persons for those who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

Second, both mRNA vaccines in our National Vaccination Programme work very well. Both mRNA vaccines protected infected persons against severe disease by around 90%. The mRNA vaccines also reduced the risk of infection by around 40% and halved the risk of onward transmission.

However, a comparison with the non-mRNA vaccines cannot be made at this time, as the number of persons vaccinated with them is much smaller. Less than 2% of the population was fully vaccinated with Sinovac-CoronaVac as of 30 September 2021. Further, in Singapore, a very small proportion of seniors aged 60 years and above chose to be vaccinated with Sinovac-CoronaVac, as the take-up has been mostly in younger people. In a recent study in Chile, Sinovac-CoronaVac was found to confer 58% protection against symptomatic infection compared to 88% for Pfizer. The corresponding figures for protection against severe illness requiring ICU care were 90% and 98% respectively.

Current evidence shows that persons vaccinated and boosted with the PSAR-authorised mRNA vaccines develop the strongest boosting in antibody levels and protection against infection and severe disease, compared to other COVID-19 vaccines.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) closely monitors the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. As of 18 October 2021, the rates of reported Severe Adverse Events for Sinovac-CoronaVac and the mRNA vaccines were similar, at around 0.005%. Management of adverse events from vaccines, as with other conditions, is evidence-based and takes into consideration local and international data as well as the patient’s medical condition.