Daily Briefing: Blockchain payments project ready for commercial rollout; NUS researchers develop 3 new COVID-19 swabs

And chickenpox, pneumococcal jabs to be free for eligible Singaporean children.

From Reuters:

Singapore has developed a blockchain-based payments network that could enable faster and cheaper international settlements, authorities said, adding that the next step was a commercial rollout.

The final phase of the years-long ‘Project Ubin’ saw the Monetary Authority of Singapore team up with state investor Temasek and J.P. Morgan (JPM.N) to develop the prototype multicurrency payments network.

“An international settlement network, modelled after this payments network prototype, could enable faster and cheaper transactions than conventional cross-border payments channels,” MAS and Temasek said in a joint statement.

They said that commercial applications of the prototype include cross-border payments in multiple currencies, foreign currency exchange, and settlement of foreign currency denominated securities as well as other use cases.

To spur further industry development, MAS and Temasek said it would make some of the technical specifications for the prototype network available to the public.

Read more here. 

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed three COVID-19 swabs to meet a surge in demand, both globally and in Singapore, according to a news release.

These nasopharyngeal swabs are a key element in testing for SARS-CoV-2 but are often out of stock due to supply chain disruptions.

To address the shortage and ensure Singapore has a sustainable supply of these swabs, two multidisciplinary research teams from NUS developed three swab designs that are said to be comparable to the current ‘gold standard’ swabs.

“The three are a 3D-printed swab named Python and two other designs, IM2 and IM3, that can be manufactured using a process called injection moulding that can produce several hundred swabs in “a few minutes”, NUS said.

The three new swabs are among several developments in Singapore related to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more here. 

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Vaccinations against chickenpox and pneumococcal disease will be free for eligible Singaporean children from 1 November, as part of enhanced subsidies for nationally recommended vaccinations announced by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Subsidies will be enhanced for vaccinations recommended under the National Childhood Immunisation Schedule (NCIS) and National Adult Immunisation Schedule (NAIS) at all Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) general practitioner clinics and polyclinics.

This is said to be part of efforts to better protect Singaporeans from vaccine-preventable diseases and to reduce the risk of outbreaks in the community.

Meanwhile, other eligible adult Singaporeans will have payments capped at between $35 and $63 per vaccination dose.

At polyclinics, adult Singaporeans will receive up to 75% subsidy for NAIS vaccinations, whilst Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation seniors will also get an additional 50% and 25% subsidy respectively on top of that.

Read more here.