The Driving Force Behind Vaccine Procurement in Non-Producing Countries Singapore and Israel: 'Leaders' Determination'

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Orders Establishment of Specialized Agency from April
Netanyahu Says "I'll Be the First to Get Vaccinated"...Directly Addresses Safety Concerns
New Zealand, with No Cases Since November, Secures Vaccines for Over Three Times Its Population

The Pfizer vaccine transport plane that arrived at Singapore Changi International Airport on the 21st (local time). [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] "Securing vaccines was like buying movie tickets without reviews."

Benjamin Sit, Chairman of the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (BMRC), explained the process of securing COVID-19 vaccines in an interview with Channel NewsAsia (CNA) on the 22nd (local time). He said, "Advance purchase agreements for vaccines were like buying movie tickets before reviews come out, so there were many difficulties," adding, "However, since the United States and the European Union (EU) were purchasing on a massive scale, we had to do our best to secure vaccines first." Chairman Benjamin is in charge of the 'Therapeutics and Vaccines Expert Panel (TxVax),' a specialized organization for vaccine procurement.

Contrary to President Moon Jae-in's remark that "countries that vaccinate first are vaccine-producing countries," non-vaccine-producing countries such as Singapore, Israel, and New Zealand in Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania have simultaneously secured vaccine supplies and are either administering or preparing for vaccinations. The reason these countries were able to secure vaccines as quickly as Western developed countries is analyzed to be because their national leaderships have been fully committed to the vaccine procurement battle from the early stages of the COVID-19 situation.

On the 14th (local time), a televised address by Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, was broadcast to the public. On this day, Prime Minister Lee approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine and announced that vaccinations would begin by the end of the year. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Singapore, which received the Pfizer vaccine on the 22nd, the first Asian country to do so, had planned its vaccine supply strategy from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to CNA, under the direction of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore formed TxVax under the Economic Development Board (EDB) in April and began analyzing clinical trial data of about 160 vaccine candidates being developed worldwide. Subsequently, in June, it signed its first advance purchase agreement with Moderna, and in August, it pre-purchased vaccines from China's Sinovac and Pfizer consecutively. Singapore has not disclosed the exact amount of vaccines secured so far, but it is estimated to have purchased about 1 billion Singapore dollars (approximately 830.8 billion KRW). This amount is nearly four times the 218.6 billion KRW budget that the Korean government supported for securing vaccine sovereignty.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: "I will be the first to get vaccinated in this country"... Leading the vaccine procurement battle

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the Pfizer vaccine for the first time in Israel on the 19th (local time), the day before nationwide vaccinations began.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Israel, which began Pfizer vaccine administration on the 19th, has been conducting intelligence operations on the quantities and technologies of diagnostic kits, surgical masks, vaccines, etc., since March under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet and foreign intelligence agency Mossad working jointly. Some supplies were brought in using military procurement routes, drawing much criticism from neighboring countries, but Netanyahu took full responsibility and confronted the critical public opinion. Netanyahu was also the first to receive the vaccine in Israel.

New Zealand Prime Minister: "Secured supplies from various companies... Enough for nationwide vaccination"

On the 17th (local time), New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared in a statement, "We have secured enough doses for all New Zealanders to be vaccinated."
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Even New Zealand, which has reported zero new cases since the 18th of last month, is known to have secured more than three times the vaccine doses relative to its population. New Zealand began its vaccine procurement battle in earnest by signing a contract for 750,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine on October 12. On the 19th of last month, it signed a contract for 5 million doses with Janssen, and this month, it secured 3.8 million doses from AstraZeneca and 5.36 million doses from Novavax, totaling 15.71 million doses. This means more than three times the population of about 4.8 million people in New Zealand have been secured in vaccine doses.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared in a statement on the 17th, "We have secured enough doses for all New Zealanders to be vaccinated." Regarding the reason for securing more vaccines than the total population, she explained, "Considering that multiple companies are developing vaccines, we secured supplies from various companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.