Ben Seet is Deputy Group CEO (Education & Research) for the National Healthcare Group, and concurrently, Group Chief Research Officer. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.

Ben was formerly Executive Director of the Biomedical Research Council at A*STAR, where he oversaw research and innovation across different industry sectors. Prior to joining A*STAR, he served as Chief of the SAF Medical Corps, and was also Chief Medical Officer of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York.

When COVID-19 hit Singapore, Ben chaired the Therapeutics & Vaccines advisory panel, and was a member of the national level planning group for COVID-19 vaccines & therapeutics, as well as the Expert Committee on COVID-19 vaccination

Presentation Synopsis
Jabbing SG: A Health Planner’s Guide To Buying and Deploying Vaccines in a Pandemic

COVID-19 presented an extraordinary set of circumstances, where countries across the entire world knew that they needed vaccines, but had no idea which and whether these would work, when they would become available, and where there were none for sale at the time this realisation first hit home. Singapore took steps that eventually led it to become one of the best vaccinated nations globally (93% of total population immunised, >70% boosted as at May 2022).
This presentation attempts to capture some of the initiatives and actions that helped achieve this, and how these contribute towards national preparedness for future medical contingencies.