Every HDB Town Will Have a COVID-19 Vaccination Centre by End-March 2021

By
Ashley Seek
-

It’s been around a year since COVID-19 has become an unfortunate part of our daily lives.

However, we have since developed several ways of combatting this virus.

And I’m talking about the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Image: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock.com

While it’s a no-brainer that getting vaccinated is important, you have to wonder if there’ll be enough for everyone, and whether we need to travel 10km to get the vaccine.

Well, the government has responded to that.

Every HDB Town Will Have a COVID-19 Vaccination Centre by End-March 2021

According to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, the aim is to have all towns in Singapore to have a vaccination centre by the end of March this year.

Each centre would be able to deliver about 2,000 vaccinations per day.

This would take place from 8am to 10pm each day, However, the number could change depending on the number of booths per centre.

Mr Chan said on 26 Jan that the goal was to build the vaccination capacity before they came.

This was to ensure that vaccination capacities at the centres would not hit a bottleneck.

So as to not waste vaccines, supplies are brought into venues based on appointments on that day.

On the morning of 27 Jan, Mr Chan also took his own vaccination shot at Tanjong Pagar CC.

This comes just a few days after DPM Heng Swee Kiat took his shot as well.

Providing Aid For The Elderly

There are some centres that’ll be set up to cater to those who are 70 and above.

Tanjong Pagar CC is one of them, along with Teck Ghee CC in Ang Mo Kio. More will be set up in the future.

Mr Chan says that using CCs would provide a ‘sense of familiarity’ for the elderly since past events such as distributing masks and TraceTogether tokens took place there.

CNA reported that there will be a booking centre at each CC for those who can’t make their vaccination appointments online.

Seniors who want to do a walk-in vaccination will also be accepted, in which volunteers and staff would have to help them out.

Volunteers To Help Out

Regarding volunteers, Mr Chan also says that the People’s Association (PA) managed to get 600 to help across both CCs.

These volunteers are meant to ease the concerns from the elderly about the vaccination.

Any more serious medical questions will be answered by the doctors.

Volunteers will also be trained on how to answer any queries they may receive, along with house visits for these elderly residents.

If an elderly person has not registered a few days after getting the letter for vaccination, volunteers will help to assist the process too.

Mr Chan says that so far, the feedback at Tanjong Pagar CC is encouraging, with over 300 bookings from elderly residents so far.

The assistant chairman of Tanjong Pagar CCs Senior Citizens Executive Committee, who is also volunteering, noted that most of the elderly are okay with the vaccination.

Still, some want to wait till post-CNY to do so in case they got sick from any vaccination side effects during the season.

Some May Need To Avoid Vaccination

A vaccine will no doubt help your body’s resistance in the long run.

However, there are still a select few who may need to avoid the COVID-19 vaccination.

These include:

  • Children under the age of 16 years old
  • People with immunodeficiency conditions
  • Pregnant women
  • People with a history of severe allergic reactions

For women planning to conceive but concerned about getting vaccinated, you can read more over here.

Featured Image: Facebook (Chan Chun Sing)

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Ashley Seek
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