Singapore launches COVID-19 vaccination exercise

NCID Senior Nurse Sarah Lim, 46, receives her vaccination at the NCID Day Treatment Center on December 30, 2020. The Straits Times / Asia News Network / KEVIN LIM

SINGAPORE – Singapore launched its national Covid-19 vaccination program on Wednesday (December 30) morning, with a senior nurse from the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) the first to roll up her sleeves for the Pfizer jab- BioNTech.

Sarah Lim, 46, is part of the team investigating suspected Covid-19 cases.

“I am grateful and grateful for being the first to get vaccinated, I would encourage (others) to do so,” she told reporters after receiving the vaccine.

“It is not very painful.”

She added in Mandarin: “I wanted to give myself the injection to protect myself, my loved ones, patients and the public.

“It gives me greater peace of mind.”

The vaccine was removed from the refrigerator at 8.30 a.m., according to a note on the wall, and delivered about an hour after it reached room temperature.

The nurse who administered the jabs took several minutes to prepare the injection each time.

Once this was done, the health workers were told to rest for 30 minutes in an observation room.

The national vaccine effort is a critical part of pushing for the Republic to return to normal and reopen the economy, and it is expected that most people will have the opportunity to receive it next year.

Like her colleagues, Ms Lim believes that the vaccine, in addition to other strict measures such as hygiene and the use of masks, is an additional layer of protection.

Second in line was Dr. Kalisvar Marimuthu, a 43-year-old senior consultant handling suspected and confirmed Covid-19 cases.

“I feel lucky … a little excited that the vaccine is potentially a game changer,” he said.

“It has been a long journey for us to get here, it has been hard for all of us.

“Vaccines have brought pandemics to their knees in the past,” he added, and hopes that history will repeat itself this time.

“I hope there is light at the end of a very long tunnel.”

When he was shot, he said: “I already feel better and more protected. This vaccine is probably the last layer of protection for us. “

Mr. Mohamed Firdaus Bin Mohamed Salleh, 38, a senior NCID nurse, was also one of the first of about 30 NCID staff members in line for the injection on Wednesday.

“This gives me the assurance that I can safely return home with my children,” said the father of four.

Others on the front line are also being listed for similar vaccines, with public health institutions and private hospitals seeing to it that their staff are vaccinated at their respective facilities.

This is in line with the recommendations of an expert committee that healthcare and frontline workers and those most vulnerable to serious complications if they contract Covid-19 should get vaccinated first.

Singaporeans aged 70 and over will take their hits starting in February next year, followed by other Singaporeans and long-term residents who are medically eligible.

The expert committee also assessed that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is suitable for use in people 16 years of age and older for the prevention of Covid-19, although it is still not recommended to take the vaccine for pregnant women and immunosuppressed individuals until there are more. Information available.

The first shipment of the vaccine arrived in Singapore earlier this month (December 21) on a Singapore Airlines flight from Brussels.

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