[ad_1]
SINGAPORE: Singapore will begin its Covid-19 vaccination exercise with health workers at the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) on December 30, the Republic’s Ministry of Health (MOH) reported today.
The ministry said the vaccination exercise will be extended to more health institutions in the coming weeks.
Singapore received the first shipment of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech on December 21 and expected subsequent stocks of Covid-19 vaccines to arrive in batches over several months.
The Health Ministry said it aimed to begin vaccinating the elderly, starting with those aged 70 and over, starting in February 2021.
“Thereafter, we will vaccinate other Singaporeans and long-term residents who are medically eligible for vaccination,” he said.
The Health Ministry said that the Singapore government today accepted in full the recommendations on the vaccination strategy presented by the Covid-19 Vaccination Expert Committee on December 24.
One of the recommendations is to vaccinate all people domiciled in Singapore, including medically eligible citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders.
To ensure the accessibility of the vaccine and allow the republic to achieve a higher vaccination rate for the population, vaccination will be free, the ministry said.
The ministry noted that the Expert Committee had endorsed the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use in Singapore in people 16 years of age and older.
The committee also suggested that vaccination should remain voluntary.
