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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s Covid-19 vaccination program will enter its next phase on February 22, when the island’s older people begin to take its hit, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday (February 12).
This comes after a month-long pilot, where people aged 70 and over in Ang Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar, cities with a higher proportion of elderly residents, started receiving their vaccinations from January 27.
The multi-ministerial working group on Covid-19 will give more details and announce the timing of these vaccines, said Lee, reiterating Singapore’s goal of vaccinating the country by the third quarter or at the latest by the end of the year. as long as no problems arise.
Mr. Lee spoke to reporters at Changi General Hospital after visiting essential workers on the first day of the Chinese New Year.
Singapore has placed orders for vaccines from various suppliers to ensure there are enough for everyone here, although there may be some interruptions and delays, Lee said, saying that to date about 260,000 people have been vaccinated.
“I am reasonably confident that we will get the vaccines we need this year,” he said.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said last month that Singapore expected delays in the shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines due to updates at the Pfizer manufacturing facility.
Singapore has also authorized Moderna vaccine and expects the first shipment to arrive next month, if there are no disruptions to the shipment schedule.
“We have hedged our bets and ordered and pre-ordered vaccines from multiple vendors. I hope not all of them are disrupted,” said Mr. Lee.
Mr Lee noted that depending on vaccine supply disruptions and late arrivals, Singapore’s vaccination program may have to be extended a bit.
The country will have to maintain its safe management measures for longer and more strictly, he added.
But even if Singapore manages to vaccinate most of its residents, Lee cautioned that this does not mean that life can go back to being before the pandemic, as it does not mean that everyone will be safe.
“Some will not be vaccinated, they will remain vulnerable. Our borders will not be able to close completely, people will have to travel from time to time. Cases will come and we will have to take care of them. We will have to.” go on to live with Covid-19 in some form for quite some time, “he said.
He added that the countries of the region will also not be able to vaccinate their large populations by the end of this year, so surveillance is still necessary.
Underlining his faith that Singapore can keep up the good work of adapting to restricted activities and containing Covid-19, Mr. Lee acknowledged that there are things that many people overlook while adhering to safety management measures.
He highlighted the ability to have human contact and interaction, which he said are things that human beings, as social creatures, need and depend on.
“We are social creatures, and you want to see people, you want to have friends to chat and not have to always be on guard; Did I sanitize my hand? Can I sit a little closer? – it’s against all your normal instincts to hug and be around someone, ”he said.
“That is a significant psychological cost that we bear. And the other is sometimes, you just want to let your hair down, have an adventure and a party, that’s why you have a rave party and on the beach, I think it will be some time before we have raves and parties on the beach, including vaccinations and vaccinations, “he added.
This extends to leisure travel as well, and Lee noted that countries are still very cautious about restarting travel, especially as new variants of Covid-19 are emerging, which are more infectious and possibly even more dangerous.
He said: “Countries are very cautious about restarting travel and until a substantial proportion of the population is vaccinated, and there is some system in place for countries to know and verify who has been vaccinated and is safe to travel.”
“I don’t think I can hope to go back to the days when you just bought a ticket and went to Bangkok or Hong Kong for a weekend, for some time,” he said.
“It would be several years, even IATA has said four to five years, until 2024 or more,” he added.
He was referring to the International Air Transport Association’s projections for how long it would take for global air travel to return to pre-Covid-19 levels.
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