S’pore Residents Aged Under 45 Might Be Able to Book COVID-19 Vaccination Slots From Jun 2021 Onwards

By
Avery
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Coronavirus bad. Say no to COVID-19.

Well, now you really can, since those aged under 45 will soon be eligible for vaccination against the virus, according to The Straits Times.

S’pore Residents Aged Under 45 Might Be Able to Book COVID-19 Vaccination Slots From Jun 2021 Onwards

Updating Parliament on the progress of Singapore’s vaccination programme, Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary announced that, at the present pace, Singapore residents aged under 45 can expect to be invited for vaccinations beginning from June. 

This came on the heels of optimistic figures for the ongoing immunisation effort, which has so far given at least one shot to 1.06 million people in a country of 5.7 million, more than 468,000 of whom have completed the full vaccination course of two shots.

For those who suck at Math (like me), this translates to a take-up rate of up to 70% among the different demographics now eligible for the vaccine.

To expedite vaccinations, the number of vaccination centres will be increased to 31 today (Apr 5), and a further nine will be added by mid-April. 

However, Dr Puthucheary cautioned that Singapore’s vaccine supply remains constrained considering fierce international competition for the limited stock, and apologised for the lower number of booking slots available. 

Once registered for the vaccine, those eligible can expect to receive a SMS to book their vaccination appointments when slots become available.

Global Immunisation Progress Less Optimistic

No man is an island—well, Singapore is, but either way, the success of our efforts against COVID-19 also depends on the success of everywhere else in fighting the pandemic.

However, the availability of vaccines across different countries is a stark reflection of global inequities, The Guardian reports.

While countries like the United States and the United Kingdom have already immunised one-quarter of their populations and have plenty more doses in stock, some less economically developed countries like South Africa have yet to vaccinate even 1% of their populations. 

This situation is made worse by the exorbitant costs of purchasing and storing the popular Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which use a more advanced mRNA technology that adds to production costs and requires storage conditions as low as -70°C.

Covax, a global alliance aiming to improve access to vaccines, hopes to vaccinate 27% of the world’s population living in less economically developed countries. But even that, experts say, may not be enough.

Without sufficient vaccine coverage worldwide, the strong risk of the coronavirus continuing to develop new mutations cannot be eradicated. This includes the possibility that new variants can weaken the protection offered by existing vaccines, and therefore compromise currently successful vaccination campaigns.

Feature Image: BaLL LunLa / Shutterstock.com

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Avery
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