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SINGAPORE: People aged 70 and over will receive COVID-19 vaccination letters for the next three weeks, while inoculation for people aged 60 to 69 will begin in late March, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said. on Friday (February 19).
It was previously announced that COVID-19 vaccination for the elderly in the community will begin across the island starting Monday, following the pilots conducted in Tanjong Pagar and Ang Mo Kio.
More than 5,000 seniors from the two cities have received their vaccinations as of February 18.
Singapore began its COVID-19 vaccination exercise on December 30, and health workers from the National Center for Infectious Diseases were the first to receive the vaccines.
Older people will need to wait in the observation area for 30 minutes after receiving their vaccination. (Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
As of Thursday, around 250,000 people in Singapore have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Health Ministry said in a press release. Of those, 110,000 received the second dose and completed the full vaccination regimen, he said.
In early April, Singapore hopes to distribute the first dose of vaccines to another million people, COVID-19 ministerial task force co-chair Lawrence Wong said on Friday during a visit to a vaccination center at the Jalan Community Center. Kiss.
This will bring the total number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Singapore to approximately 1.25 million people.
READ: Tighter COVID-19 measures will remain for a few weeks after the Chinese New Year holidays: Lawrence Wong
“CUSTOM LETTERS”
For the next three weeks, people 70 and older can expect to receive “personalized letters” inviting them to sign up for vaccines before the first week of March, the Health Ministry said in a press release.
“We will start by inviting older people who live near polyclinics or vaccination centers, so that they can be conveniently vaccinated at a vaccination site near their home,” the ministry said.
“In mid-March, when we have opened a vaccination center in each town, all older adults will be able to receive their vaccine,” he added.
“We expect all the letters to reach our seniors age 70 and over by the first week of March.”
READ: There is no indication that the COVID-19 vaccine has caused cardiac arrest in an elderly man from Singapore – MINSA
Next in line for vaccination will be seniors ages 60 to 69, who will receive their invitation letters in mid-March. Your vaccination will begin around the end of March.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who are Co-Chairs of the COVID-19 Multi-Ministries Task Force, visiting COVID-19 Vaccination at Jalan Besar Community Club on February 19, 2021 (Photo: Ministry of Communications and Information)
Seniors will be able to schedule their vaccinations at any of the vaccination centers, 20 polyclinics, or 22 Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPC) that function as vaccination sites.
Those who need help booking their vaccination appointments can bring their invitation letter to any community center, where staff members will be available to assist them.
“As the letters will be mailed according to the official residential addresses, seniors are encouraged to update their residential address using the electronic address change service through the relevant government websites, so that the letters are sent to your place of residence, “the Health Ministry said. .
VACCINATION RATE PROGRAM “CONTINGENT WITH SUPPLY”
Mr Wong told reporters that the pace of Singapore’s vaccination program “depends on supply more than anything else.”
“That is not something to be taken for granted,” he said.
Mr. Wong, who is also the Minister of Education, said that supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine faced delays “earlier this year.”
READ: Singapore receives its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna
He added that the delays were not due “so much to export restrictions, but because there has been an increase in global demand for these vaccines”, which has caused the company to need more time to increase manufacturing capacity.
But with Singapore receiving its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna on February 17, there are now “some diversification benefits,” Mr. Wong said.
Another shipment is expected to arrive in March and with the two shipments, “we hope to be able to distribute vaccines to another million people by the end of March or beginning of April,” he added.
READ: How COVID-19 vaccines are transported to Singapore and stored here
“If everything goes according to plan, then we can progressively roll out to the other age groups, beyond March,” Wong said.
“We will continue to monitor the vaccine supply because that is the critical issue that will allow us to get the vaccines out … We will do everything we can to make sure we can get these vaccines to Singapore,” he added.
The minister said authorities are also continuing to seek other vaccine options and will do “everything possible” to vaccinate everyone in Singapore before the end of the year.
SECURITY PROCESSES CARRIED OUT
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who was also at the vaccination center, assured residents that there are safety procedures in place before and after inoculation.
“Everyone who gets vaccinated has to go through a fairly thorough questionnaire to make sure they don’t have a contraindication,” Mr. Gan said, noting that people are observed for 30 minutes after vaccination.
“And even at the end of 30 minutes, we don’t let them go. In fact, we go through another round of questionnaires to make sure they are all okay. We also give them advice, in case they have any reaction.”
Gan made the comments when asked about the 72-year-old man who went into cardiac arrest several hours after receiving his first dose of COVID-19.
In announcing the case on Thursday, the Health Ministry said there is no indication that the cardiac arrest is due to vaccination, adding that the man has a history of cancer, hypertension and hyperlipidemia.
“I have to emphasize that this particular case, based on our research, is not related to the vaccine,” said Mr. Gan.
“However, it is important for us to continue to observe and continue to monitor those who have been vaccinated, to make sure that whoever has an adverse effect, we do want to know so we can collect the data and also refine our vaccination criteria,” he added.
“I want to assure Singaporeans that we take this very seriously, whether it is related to vaccination or not, we want to know if there are such incidents so that we can investigate further and better understand the situation.”
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