S’pore aims to fully vaccinate two-thirds of population by National Day: are we there yet?

About three out of five people in Singapore are fully vaccinated as of July 28th, the Singapore government said in an alert on Friday (July 30th).

3.21 million people have completed the full regimen so far, making up 57 per cent of the population.

There are 4.28 million people who have received at least the first dose.

The vaccines that are currently being administered are Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty and Moderna.

Singapore aims to fully vaccinate two-thirds of its population by around National Day on August 9th. This means that there’s the need to vaccinate around 560,000 more people.

Last week, around 47,000 more people were fully vaccinated on average each day. With 12 days left to August 9th from the latest vaccination update on July 28th, this shows that Singapore is on track to reach the National Day target of almost 67 per cent of the population.

If Singapore keeps the vaccination drive going at its current rate, it will also reach its 80 per cent target as soon as the end of August.

The target looks achievable based on current calculations, and is in line with Health Minister Ong Ye Kung’s update to Parliament on Monday (July 26th) that about four in five of the population are expected to have received two doses by early September.

By then, Singapore would have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, and that “puts us in a strong position to transit to a Covid-19-resilient society,” Mr Ong had said.

Call for seniors to get vaccinated

Singapore has been urging seniors to come forward to get vaccinated. According to public records, one out of five seniors above the age of 70 are still unvaccinated.

For seniors who are between 60 and 69 years old, about one out of seven are unvaccinated.

“Seniors – if you have not been vaccinated, please do so as soon as possible, so that you are protected and we can re-open safely,” the Health Ministry urged in its latest update.

“Those aged 60 and above can walk-in at any vaccination centre, polyclinic, participating PHPC or mobile vaccination station to get vaccinated.”

Featured Image Credit: Singapore General Hospital