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Progress on vaccine development is at worst two steps forward one step back, and not one step forward and two steps back on a sustained basis.
–— Mizuho Bank’s economist Vishnu Varathan warning of a bumpy path out of the pandemic.
Singapore sets up vaccine expert committee
An expert committee has been set up by Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to advise and assess the efficacy and safety of Covid-19 vaccines.
The committee was formed last month, and comes as pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced results pointing to their vaccine being more than 90% effective against the Covid-19 virus. Pfizer announced it expects to seek US authorisation later this month for emergency use of the vaccine.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong — who is co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce against Covid-19 — said in a virtual press conference on Nov 10 that the committee will comprise experts in infectious diseases, immunology and other relevant fields and will “closely monitor” vaccine clinical trials data and recommend vaccination approaches for different groups of people. More information on the committee will be shared soon.
At the same virtual press conference, MOH’s director of medical services Kenneth Mak said while a vaccine is an “important tool” against Covid-19, it may not be a “silver bullet that can end the pandemic”.
The health ministry also said that there are various Covid-19 vaccines currently under development and entering clinical trials globally. The different vaccinations may also confer varying degrees of protection. — Lim Hui Jie
Fauci predicts positive data from second Covid-19 vaccine soon
Anthony Fauci, the leading US infectious disease expert, predicted positive data from a second Covid-19 vaccine could come quickly on the heels of this week’s strong trial results from Pfizer and BioNTech, according to The Financial Times.
Dr Fauci told the FT Live Global Pharmaceutical Summit on Nov 11 that he was optimistic about a forthcoming update on the vaccine from biotech group Moderna and would “be surprised if we didn’t see a similar degree of efficacy” to the positive results released by Pfizer and BioNTech on Nov 9.
He also expressed optimism for its effectiveness, he said, because the vaccine was “identical in many respects” to the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, which demonstrated 90% efficacy.
However, Dr Fauci warns that the world was still “very, very far from victory” over the pandemic, and said that there would need to be global cooperation to “intensify our efforts of control” and “double down on the public health measures”.
Post-lockdown, eight in 10 Southeast Asians think tech is helpful
Eight out of 10 Southeast Asians view technology as very helpful during the pandemic, with digital adoption spiking due to lockdowns imposed in response to the Covid-19 outbreak earlier this year.
More than one in three digital services consumers in the region (36%) are new users, with 40 million new Internet users this year. Among the new users, 94% intend to continue their newfound habits post-pandemic, states a research report by Internet giant Google, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and management consulting firm Bain & Company.
According to the Southeast Asia e-Conomy report released Nov 10, there are 400 million internet users in the region, compared to 360 million last year.
Overall, some 70% of the region’s population is now online.
For leisure, Southeast Asians spent on average an hour more a day on the Internet during the imposed lockdowns. Across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, Internet users went from spending an average of 3.6 hours online daily to 4.7 hours during lockdowns.
The internet sector will remain resilient at US$100 billion ($134.9 billion) gross merchandise value (GMV) by the end of 2020, and is poised to grow to over US$300 billion in GMV by 2025, which the reports calls a clear indication that momentum has not been derailed by the year’s challenging environment.
The report is the fifth in an annual series by Temasek and Google since 2016. — Jovi Ho
HKEX backs decision to halt Ant’s record IPO
Hong Kong stock exchange, which missed out on the chance to host Ant Group’s record US$37 billion listing this month, believed the move to suspend the IPO was the right one and hoped the Chinese fintech giant would come back later, its CEO said on Nov 11.
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), which currently ranks fourth in the IPO league table of global exchanges according to Refinitiv, would have jumped to number two if Ant’s dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai had gone ahead.
The IPO was thwarted last week when the Shanghai Stock Exchange said it would halt the company’s STAR Market listing, prompting Ant to also freeze the Hong Kong leg of the deal.
The market “needed time to fully absorb regulatory changes,” Charles Li, chief executive of the Hong Kong bourse, said on an earnings call with the media.
Li did not specify which regulatory changes, but analysts have pointed to a consultation paper issued by the banking watchdogs recommending tightening rules for online micro-lending companies as foreshadowing the regulators’ move against Ant.
“When Ant is ready to come back, we stand ready to welcome them back to our market,” said Li, who steps down as CEO of the bourse at the end of this year. —