Here Are 10 New Facts About the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme As Revealed by MOH

You wouldn’t have believed it but it’s only been a month since Singapore started its Covid-19 vaccinations.

So what’s been happening since then? How many have received the vaccinations and has there been any dangerous events?

Well, the Ministry of Health (MOH) shared all of that information in an update on 28 Jan 2021.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. More Than 100K Individuals Vaccinated

As of 27 Jan 2021, it was reported that more than 113,000 individuals in Singapore have been vaccinated with their first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

Out of these, 50 of them have received their second dose of vaccine, completing the entire vaccination regime.

2. There Were 432 Adverse Events Reported

432 adverse events were reported throughout this period.

Most of the adverse event reports were for regular symptoms, and include:

• injection site pain and swelling
• fever
• headache
• fatigue
• body aches
• giddiness
• nausea
• allergic reactions (such as itch, rash, swelling of eyes/lip)

Typically, they’ll go away on their own in a few days.

There are, however, 3 individuals who suffered from anaphylaxis (rapid onset of severe reaction).

While they have a history of allergies, they did not have a history of anaphylaxis which would’ve disqualified them from getting vaccinated.

3. Slightly Above Average Incidence Rate

The global incidence rate of anaphylaxis is one to two per 100,000 vaccines administered.

In Singapore, it’s about 2.7 per 100,000 vaccines.

Don’t be too alarmed by the figures, though, because abroad, millions are already administered while in Singapore, we just barely eked past the first 100K milestone.

Variations in the incidence rates are expected initially because the number of people vaccinated is small, and the ministry expects it to conform to the average once the number grows bigger.

4. Benefits > Costs

According to Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, the Director of Medical Services at MOH (the dude you’d often see alongside with Lawerence Wong and Gan Kim Yong during the COVID-19 press conferences), “anaphylaxis is a known but rare side effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine”.

Just like any other vaccines, there’ll be a small subgroup of people who are vulnerable to severe allergic reactions after getting the jab.

What MOH did is to make it as safe as possible by implementing pre-vaccination screening and post-vaccination observation.

Anaphylaxis, while it could lead to death, can be treated if caught in a timely manner.

All three cases which suffered from anaphylaxis are promptly treated and well.

If you need any other reason to take the vaccination, just know that there could be additional restrictions imposed on people who are not vaccinated in the future.

It won’t be taking place anytime soon, though, because as Minister Lawrence Wong had said, it wouldn’t be fair now since there are groups of people who are not able to take the vaccine yet.

5. Vaccinations For The Elderly Has Started

Previously, it was reported that Covid-19 vaccinations for the elderly have been pushed ahead of schedule.

And it’s started two days ago.

On 27 Jan 2021, two pilots for the Covid-19 vaccinations for the elderly started at two sites: Ang Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar.

Why these places? Because they have the highest amount of elderly.

On the first day, more than 250 elderly have got vaccinated.

More than 10,000 letters were sent to the elderly living in these areas and more than a third of them have booked for an appointment.

As for the rest of Singapore, letters will be progressively sent to the elderly living in other parts of Singapore from mid-Feb onwards.

6. More Vaccine Sites To Be Set Up

250 sounds like a small number but MOH expects the number to climb up in the coming weeks.

Around 40 vaccination centres will be set up at accessible locations, and each vaccination centre is estimated to be able to give 2,000 vaccine jabs a day.

A new vaccination centre at Tanjong Pagar Community Club has started operating, while another one at Teck Ghee Community Club will start operating from 1 Feb 2021.

7. Vaccine At Your Doorstep

To vaccinate the elderly in Singapore, the authorities are sparing no expenses.

Currently, the elderly can get themselves vaccinated at 21 Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPC) and 9 polyclinics.

In Feb 2021, all polyclinics will be able to administer the Covid-19 vaccine jabs.

And if the elderly are not able to leave his home for any reason, mobile vaccination teams will be set up to bring the vaccine to their doorstep.

8. Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Program

There are many reasons why people are leery of taking the jab, one of which is whether they’ll suffer even more from the vaccine.

After all, it’s good to say “it’s for the good of you and your loved ones”, but when you’re the one who had to be hospitalised and lose your income, that saying would be nothing but hollow words.

The authorities feel the same way too, and so, they’ve come up with a typical solution for it: throw money at it until it hurts.

Called the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Program (VIFAP), this scheme provides financial assistance to Singapore residents (citizens, PRs and long-term residents) should they suffer a fatal or life-threatening side effect leading to hospitalisation or long-term consequences.

There are two tiers of financial support:

1. A one-time payment of $10,000 for individuals who are hospitalised in the High Dependency or Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but subsequently recovers
2. A one-time payment of $225,000 for an individual who dies or suffers from a permanent injury

Of course, to qualify, a doctor has to prove that your injury is directly linked to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Individuals who are on VIFAP can continue receiving support from schemes like the MediShield Life.

9. MediShield Insurers Chip In Too

Okay, this point wasn’t exactly updated by MOH but it’s still one that people should know.

If you’re a Singaporean, you probably pay a certain amount of your MediSave every month for MediShield Life.

Some, who are more financially stable, might have opted to “level up” their MediShield Life to the Integrated Shield Plan with private insurers.

Typically, the private insurers do not cover vaccinations, unlike their MediShield counterpart.

However, from now until 31 Dec 2021, all private insurers with MediShield life extended a special coverage to cover Covid-19 vaccinations in a bid to get more people in Singapore vaccinated.

You can read more about that here.

10. The Covid-19 Vaccine Isn’t A Silver Bullet

Bet you were expecting this, weren’t you?

While it’s probably repeated 100,000 times by now, this still needs to be said.

The Covid-19 vaccine, while helpful, isn’t a magic bullet that solves Covid-19.

People still need to keep their masks on, practise safe-distancing, take up TraceTogether and obey the new Chinese New Year restrictions.

Thus far, Singapore has managed to keep the Covid-19 transmission down (you can give yourself one clap for contributing to it) but as Taiwan has shown, nothing’s a guarantee during these troubled times.

So let’s all strap down for the ride, which could take years, and hope the rest of the world follows along.

You can watch this video on the effectiveness of masks (and please subscribe to our YouTube channel for more informative videos!):

And for those who need a more adverse warning, the authorities have said that they’ll step up enforcement against errant rulebreakers.

Featured Image: Ascannio / Shutterstock.com