Singapore—The country’s first two community vaccination centres have been set up at Teck Ghee CC in Ang Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar Community Club.
According to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, who is one of the MPs for Tanjong Pagar GRC, the Government aims “to have one community vaccination centre in every town by the end of March.”
The press caught up with Mr Chan at a visit to the Tanjong Pagar Community Club on Tuesday (Jan 26).
In an interview with mothership.sg, he explained that those who will be running the vaccination centres will bring with them their experience in administering the doses and will be able to administer about 2,000 vaccinations daily.
Moreover, the vaccination centres will be open till late in the evening. “From 8:00 in the morning till 10:00 at night,” the Minister added.
First in line to be getting the injections are the elderly, those who are aged 70 and above.
Mr Chan commended the design of the centers as they would allow easy access to those who are not so mobile, including those in wheelchairs. Bigger booths have been designed for them, so that they can get in and out of the centres easily.
People will need to make prior appointments before they turn up at the centres, which is similar to the process for obtaining other vaccines.
And there will be a doctor on site and medical staff to attend to any emergencies that may arise.
The Minister noted that while people need to book the shots, they can get their vaccines administered at any vaccination centre, as long as their schedule for vaccination is confirmed. This is because the “vaccination exercise,” as he called it, is carried out on a national scale.
This makes the vaccines “easy to access for as many as possible,” Mr Chan added.
Senior residents eligible for the vaccines have been sent a letter telling them all about the vaccination process, and since the letters have been sent out a few days ago, there were already 300 bookings set at Tanjong Pagar Community Club for Wednesday (Jan 27), the first day they will be administered.
He also announced that the People’s Association (PA), of which he is the Deputy Chairman, has started a Community Booking centre as well, especially to assist seniors who may have a hard time booking their vaccination schedules online.
The Minister also said that walk-in vaccinations may be accommodated onsite when people come, provided they are eligible for the vaccine and there are slots available.
This would also prevent the wastage of vaccines, he added. Once the package of vaccines is open, they only have a certain shelf life before they can no longer be used.
On Facebook, Mr Chan posted photos of his visit to Tanjong Pagar CC on Tuesday evening (Jan 26), as personnel from the PA and the Ministry of Health were preparing for the first day of doses.
He called the number of bookings already received “encouraging” and added, “we expect the response rate to go up with the increase in confidence levels as more people are inoculated.”
The Minister also called out for more volunteers for the community vaccine centers.
“Currently, we have about 650 volunteers to help out in our community outreach efforts. They will assist our seniors in making vaccination appointments, sharing information with them and helping to address any queries they may have. We hope more volunteers can join us in this endeavour.”
/TISG
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