Singapore — Following two significant Covid-19 vaccine-related announcements by the Ministry of Health (MOH), the government expects to administer over two million doses of vaccines over the next two months, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
Singapore is joining other countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel and European Union member states in extending vaccination to children aged 5 to 11, after clinical trials showed that it is safe and effective, said Mr Ong in a Facebook post on Saturday (Dec 11).
MOH confirmed on Friday (Dec 10) that the Health Sciences Authority had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty paediatric dose vaccine for the stated age group, with inoculations scheduled to begin before 2022.
The paediatric doses are one-third of adult doses, said Mr Ong, noting that the Ministry of Education will follow up with more details.
The second announcement involved booster shots being extended to young people aged 18 to 29 if their second doses were taken five months ago or longer.
“With these changes, we expect to administer over two million doses of vaccines over two months in December 2021 and January 2022,” said Mr Ong.
“This is critically important to help us prepare for the emergence of the Omicron variant in Singapore,” he noted, citing preliminary studies showing Omicron was more transmissible than the Delta variant.
“Hence it will be a matter of time before it (Omicron) established itself all over the world, and even overtake Delta as the dominant variant.”
Despite Omicron infections causing milder symptoms, its high transmissibility, even on a small proportion of people falling very sick, “can put our healthcare system under severe pressure,” Mr Ong noted.
He urged the public to practice good personal hygiene, observe safe management measures such as mask-wearing and get vaccinated.
Regarding booster shots, Mr Ong mentioned that the two mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) could be used interchangeably. He used Finance Minister Lawrence Wong and himself as examples, noting they received Pfizer-BioNTech for the two doses and a Moderna booster shot.
Mr Ong also said that the country currently has more stock of the Moderna vaccine, with more deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech arriving in January next year.
Therefore, members of the public can walk into vaccination centres offering Moderna, as there is no need to book an appointment.
“MOH encourages you not to wait, and if due, go get your booster shots regardless of which mRNA vaccine. This is the best way to get prepared for Omicron,” said Mr Ong. /TISG