SINGAPORE: While acknowledging that scientists are keeping an eye on a new variant of Covid-19, the wife of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Ho Ching, has said it would be better at the moment for senior citizens in Singapore to prioritise getting protected against bacterial infections through getting pneumococcal vaccines.
In one of her latest Facebook posts, Mdm Ho linked an article from the UK’s Daily Mail about the new COVID variant, an offshoot of the JN.1 strain which is responsible for around 30 per cent of new cases in the UK and 25 per cent of them in the United States.
Whether or not the variant can cause more severe disease or is more infectious has not yet been determined, but doctors have expressed confidence that higher immunity levels due to both vaccines and infections are still able to protect people.
“No evidence that they are any more serious in terms of disease severity than the Omicron from which the JN.1 has descended,” wrote Mdm Ho, who also poked a bit of fun at the variant’s nickname” “The JN.1 is nicknamed Juno, while the entire family of descendants of many generations are nicknamed FliRT! Hmmm!”
She added that the symptom of the new variant is still likely to be a runny nose, “but for seniors who are not vaccinated, they can have serious consequences.”
At the beginning of the pandemic, it was stressed that the older cohort among those infected is the most vulnerable. However, since then, Covid-19 has taken the lives of and seriously made ill even middle-aged individuals, young adults, and children.
But older citizens may be facing an equal, if not greater threat from other infections, Mdm Ho added.
“However, seniors should pay attention to other bacterial infection threats – the pneumococcal vaccine helps to protect seniors from a couple dozens of different bacteria that can cause severe lung infection in seniors. So rather than fret over covid vaccines, better to get the 2 shots or pneumococcal vaccines.”
Pneumococcal vaccines are part of Singapore’s National Adult Immunisation Schedule, according to the Health Ministry. MOH said last year that the pneumococcal vaccination uptake among Singapore residents aged 65 to 74 increased from 10.3 per cent in 2019 to 26.5 per cent in 2022. One dose of the pneumococcal polysaccharide is recommended for adults over 65 years old. /TISG
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