- Singapore is poised to become Asia's first country to receive Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), BioNTech's (NASDAQ:BNTX) coronavirus vaccine, report.
- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a televised address, said the first doses are due to arrive later in December, and that other vaccines would also be coming in the months ahead after approval.
- His government expects to have 5.7M supplies for everyone in the nation by Q3 2021.
- Vaccination will be free and voluntary, and that health care workers and other vulnerable individuals would be prioritized.
- Also, Singapore will be moving from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of its reopening from Dec. 28 - allowing gatherings of up to eight people, instead of only five.
- Singapore's own Duke-NUS Medical School has also been working with U.S.-based Arcturus Therapeutics on another potential vaccine, which entered clinical trials in August.
- Pending approval, his endeavor is expected to yield doses for the city-state's population by the first quarter of next year.
- The country has reported a total of 58,325 cases so far, but Lee noted that the virus appears to be largely under control, with zero local transmissions on most days.
- Also, as per the research report by analysts at Maybank Kim Eng, Indonesia is set to procure around 250M doses from Chinese players Sinovac Biotech (NASDAQ:SVA), CanSino and Sinopharm (OTCPK:SHTDF).
- The country is exploring Western options as well. The government is seeking over 100M additional doses from Pfizer, AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and COVAX.
- Thailand is eyeing 26M doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. Malaysia is set to acquire around 19 million doses from Pfizer and COVAX.
- The Philippines has targeted over 52M doses from sources like Sinovac and AstraZeneca-Oxford, with Vietnam expressing interest in 50M to 150M doses of Russia's Sputnik V, the Maybank report added. Vietnam is also pushing a homegrown vaccine.
- PFE rises 2%, BNTX up 1% whereas, AZN is down 5% premarket.