Ong Ye Kung urges Singaporeans to persuade their loved ones to receive the vaccine doses

Singapore – Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has taken to Facebook to urge Singapore citizens to go for their vaccinations. 

Mr Ong shares a chart that a friend sent him on Tuesday morning. The chart shows the seven-day case rate in each English age group.

It is apparent from the chart that the number of Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom has spiked, especially among youths and people aged 10 to 29.  

Mr Ong says that these age groups are least likely to be vaccinated while being most likely to leave their houses and head outside.

He also says that while younger people have a lower chance of developing severe diseases, they can fall very ill as well.

Singapore has opened up 500,000 booking slots for their vaccinations over the last few days. Most are meant to target those in the 12-39 age groups which make up approximately 700,000 people.

Mr Ong says that quite a number of people have been going for their vaccinations. Around 80% of Singaporean Citizens in the group, many of which students, have received their first dose of the vaccine or at least booked a slot.

Mr Ong also assures members of the public that there are adequate supplies currently. As such, booking for non-Singaporeans will commence two days earlier than initially planned: on 30 Jun. He says that this will help Singapore to sustain a strong momentum of vaccination and that every day matters.

However, Singapore’s greatest worry continues to be its seniors. A quarter of seniors are not yet vaccinated. As Singapore starts to open up, there will be more activity and movement between people which increases the likelihood of the elderly being exposed to the virus and possibly contracting the disease.

Mr Ong urges members of the public to persuade their loved ones to go for vaccination. He shared a link to a series of videos on YouTube in different languages encouraging seniors to go for their vaccination.

He also encourages youths in Singapore to receive their doses of the vaccine in order to minimize the chances of spreading the virus to seniors in Singapore and infecting them.

A few netizens took to the comments section to share their views on the matter.

Some felt that young children below the age of 12 were vulnerable since they are unable to receive the vaccine doses. As such, they urge the government to keep current masking and safe-distancing measures in place in order to protect young children.

Meanwhile, some said that those seniors who were unvaccinated might not have loved ones to persuade them to receive the doses or look after them if they fall ill from the side effects.

You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG