5 per cent in Singapore are refusing the COVID-19 vaccine

Singapore — In a virtual press conference on Nov 15, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung gave a breakdown of the country’s vaccination rate, which is touted to be among the highest in the world.

At present, around 94 per cent of those eligible to receive the jabs have been vaccinated. 

In terms of Singapore’s total population, 85 per cent have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. 

As for the remaining 15 per cent, nine per cent are children under the age of 12, who cannot yet be vaccinated. Another one per cent do not actually live in Singapore.

And five per cent of individuals are eligible for Covid-19 jabs, but have opted not to get them.

Mr Ong added that KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital is overseeing a vaccine trial for children. The hospital will soon be recruiting children from the ages of five to 11 who are willing to participate in it.

He also shared statistics showing that people who received Pfizer-BioNTech jabs and then got a booster shot from Moderna are 72 per cent less likely to get Covid, whereas those who get a third Pfizer-BioNTech jab 62 per cent less likely to catch the infection.

“Both mRNA vaccines work very well as boosters, with Pfizer-Pfizer-Moderna having a slight edge. Regardless, the impact on the reduction of severity of illness is extremely high for both combinations,” the Health Minister said.

MOH director of medical services Kenneth Mak added that data concerning the effectiveness of the booster will be released soon.

“We’ll get it to you and we’ll make sure that you have information concerning how well the booster vaccine doses are doing,” said Assoc Prof Mak.

Mr Ong underlined that it is “very clear” that boosters are effective.

“The probability of infection and the probability of severe illness has been further drastically reduced,” he said. “(For) seniors, the impact has been stark and very significant.”

Last week, both the Health Minister and Assoc Prof Mak said they had received the Pfizer-BioNTech jab and then a shot from Moderna as a booster. /TISG

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