We’ve all heard of stubborn Karens being spotted out in the wild like Pokemon during the pandemic – not only will they refuse to budge, they might also ask for your badge.
So what will happen if someone just waltzes in into a vaccination centre with no prior appointment and demands to get the vaccine right now?
Of course, they can’t actually do that and will probably get kicked out like the Clementi community cat who at least queued up nicely for his vaccine.
Well, good for those people then, for we just may be able to do so in the near future.
Walk-Ins For Pfizer Vaccine Available Soon
Great news, for we’ll be able to gain easier access to the vaccines soon for those who haven’t had the chance to get one yet.
Soon enough, all Singaporeans will be able to walk into vaccination centres and polyclinics that offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to get it into their body.
In total, there are currently 26 such vaccination centres offering Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine all over Singapore.
It was also announced earlier in the week that all Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders can already walk into 11 community centres offering the Moderna vaccine for the jab.
Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash, group director of the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) crisis strategy and operations group, said that the walk-in programme would extend further to all Singaporeans at all vaccination centres and polyclinics “when the time is right”.
The Goal: 80% Of Population To Be Fully Vaccinated By Next Month
Why are they offering such free access to vaccines readily only now, you may wonder.
Remember how when the COVID-19 vaccines were first developed, there wasn’t really enough to go around as the whole world needed some?
That caused supply concerns, even for Singapore who had to continue monitoring whether they had enough to cover everyone in the population despite being proactive in securing some.
Now, months after the vaccination programme had first been rolled out, 62% of Singapore residents have been fully vaccinated as of 1 August 2021.
It’s also aimed for 80% of Singaporeans fully vaccinated by next month, which will mean herd immunity of the population to some degree, Mr Dinesh said.
After we reach a level where 70% or 80% of the population gets fully vaccinated, there will be less of a constrain on vaccine supply and capacity.
The vaccination programme could thus be opened up to others thereafter, including foreigners like short-term visit pass holders – especially the elderly who visited their families in Singapore but couldn’t return thanks to travel restrictions, Mr Dinesh added.
MOH remains in the process of exploring how these groups can get their vaccinations soon.
Singapore Never Used Incentives For Vaccination
Unlike some other countries that offered their citizens certain incentives if they were to get their vaccines, Singapore has yet to use any of those tactics.
While California in the United States offers a chance to win $1.5 million if vaccinated, and cars given away weekly in Russia’s Moscow, all Singaporeans ever saw were free boxes of masks and hand sanitiser bottles post-vaccination.
(Heck, some of us didn’t even receive them.)
It’s not a bad thing, however, it’s something “remarkable” instead, as Mr Dinesh put it.
Although he did mention that the authorities have come really close to offering incentives at one point of time as well.
“I felt that it was very important for us to not send the wrong perspective about vaccinations, particularly since the vaccinations are free anyway,” he said.
Instead of providing incentives such as vouchers, Singapore’s main tactic was to persuade citizens by appealing to their morals, Mr Dinesh added.
Yep, they got that right with the dancing and singing Phua Chu Kang on TV.
He also pointed out that since new vaccines that don’t use the mRNA technology that our existing ones do are coming into Singapore, it may cover those who were still waiting it out before getting vaccinated.
Lest you haven’t heard, the Sinopharm and Novavax vaccines will soon be reaching our shores within the end of the year at least, while Sinovac has already been made available.
Hopefully, everyone will soon be able to flex their fully vaccinated status on TraceTogether app.
To know more about vaccines in Singapore, watch this video to the end:
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Featured Image: Facebook (Lawrence Wong)
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